The Labyrinth's New Generation
by Artistic Ane-san
Summary: It has been seventy years after Sarah Williams solved the Labyrinth, and her personal aid, Alysa Hebe, is told the story of how young Toby was rescued all those years ago. But is it all really true, or just the whimsical fantasy of a dotty old woman? And who is that handsome man Alysa keeps dreaming about? Join Alysa to find out in this humorous tale!
1. Meet the New Generation

A young woman walked down the hall of the seniors' home quickly but quietly, clutching her sketchbook in her hand. She had thick, curly black hair, with the slightest hints of red in it; her skin was a light olive tone, and her large eyes were a dark grey framed by thick lashes. Her nose was a little longer than most, a true Greek feature from her father's family, and her own personal embarrassment; but her mouth had the Italian cheer of her mother's. And right now, the full lips were turned up in an excited smile, showing slightly crooked white teeth. Alysa Hebe just could not wait to show off her latest drawing.

Even if volunteering at the retirement center was, at first, only a way to get her community hours in for school, she could not deny how much she had grown to love hanging out with her elderly friends. One in particular, she became especially close to over the course of five years.

When she reached the door of the desired room, she knocked gently on it before opening it ever so slightly. "Miss Sarah? May I come in?"

"Oh, in a minute, dear, just wait!" Miss Sarah Williams said rather loudly, before whispering, "Go, go now before she sees!"

Alysa smiled. Miss Sarah was talking to her friends again. This was not the first time the twenty-one year old walked in on a one-sided conversation the eighty-six year old had with her hidden friends. In fact, one time, she had knocked and entered immediately, without permission, causing Miss Sarah to go into hysterics. Alysa decided then and there to never do such a thing again.

"All right now, dear, you may come in."

Alysa obliged, asking, "Who were you talking to this time, Miss Sarah? Was it Hoggle again?"

Miss Sarah smiled warmly from her rocking chair right next to the vanity mirror, wearing her usual white garb. Alysa had never seen her in any other color; not even in her snow-white hair. "As a matter of fact, it was. You do know how much I favor him, after all."

Alysa returned the smile. The game had started. "Yes, and actually, I've tried drawing him again. Would you like to see?"

"Oh yes, I would. Did you fix his nose? He was particularly upset at the size of his nose last time."

Alysa handed her elderly friend the large sketchbook as she sat down on the bed. "I think I've made it big enough to his liking. Of course, since I've never seen him, I have to base it on what you tell me. It would be a lot easier if I could have him model for me, though."

"Oh, Alysa, if any of the members of the Underground were to be seen by anyone but me, they'd probably be sent to the Bog of Eternal Stench! The Goblin King is already upset at the fact I can call my friends whenever I need them and that there's nothing he can do about it. Best not anger him further by complicating matters. Who knows what he may do to you."

The younger woman laughed amiably as her elder flipped through the sketches. As she waited, Alysa looked about the room. It was filled with ancient tomes of fantasy and adventure, and there were many figurines of mythical and legendary creatures standing on the shelve and ledges. The whole room just screamed that a dreaming child resided here. Miss Sarah claimed that all of these objects were souvenirs of her childhood, objects to remind her of her adventures in her youth, of the lessons learned within them.

Perhaps that was why Alysa and Sarah connected so well. All her life, Alysa was called a dreamer, ridiculed for believing in supernatural beings such as fairies and goblins. As a child, and well into her pre-adolescent years, Alysa would always stamp her feet and stubbornly repeat, "They are real! They are real!"

Of course, now, it would be just ridiculous and immature to truly believe in such things. This was a fact Alysa reluctantly accepted just before she entered high school. The real world had taken its hold on her mind and life, instilling in her the need to push down her childish whims and fantasies. Still, it was fun to play pretend with Miss Sarah, and get away from the harsh reality of the world. And even though she no longer fights for their existence, she still finds a comfort in that other world, allowing it to inspire many of her sketches and short stories. Miss Sarah gave Alysa the hope that even as the body grew older, the heart and imagination could remain as youthful as ever.

"Yes, this is very nice, Alysa. I'm sure Hoggle will like this one much better than your last."

"Oh, I don't know," Alysa began, "from what you've told me of that dwarf, I'd bet that he'd find something wrong with it."

Miss Sarah laughed, a very pleasant sound. "You know, you're right, honey. He definitely would." She turned to the next page, and softly gasped.

"What? Is there something wrong?" Alysa asked, sitting up straight.

"No, no, nothing. Just... I didn't know you were trying to draw him." Miss Sarah looked down at the charcoal drawing of the Goblin King. There was only his torso showing, but his eyes held that same mischievous glint, and a crystal sphere was balancing on his fingertips, just like she saw so long ago. His hair was just how she remembered it, framing that condescending smirk, and what was shown of the cape flowed behind him in an unseen breeze. However… there were a few wrinkles and creases on his face that most certainly were not there when she last saw him. Grim marks at the corners of his mouth and eyes popped out in front of her, though ever so subtle to a stranger's eye.

"Oh, that? I just thought him up, really. You've never really described his looks, so I just kinda drew what I'd imagined he'd be like. Is it bad?"

"No. No," whispered Sarah. "No, this is... amazing. Your most accurate picture yet. How did you know his eyes were mismatched?"

Alysa was confused. "Mismatched? What do you mean?"

Miss Sarah gestured toward the picture. "You colored in his eyes differently. One is definitely darker than the other."

"Is that what it looks like? Darn it, I was trying to make one pupil larger than the other."

Now Miss Sarah was confused. "Why would you think that?"

The young lady shrugged. "I dunno, it's just, kinda what I remember him looking like, you know, in my head." She paused for a few seconds. "You say this is my most accurate?"

"My dear, it's as if you've seen him in person." Suddenly, she straightened up in her chair, and looked at her guest in fear. "You haven't, have you? The Goblin King hasn't appeared before you, has he?"

'Oh dear,' thought Alysa, 'she's gonna lose it again. Better calm her before Claudia hears her.'

"No, no, Miss Sarah, I've never actually met the Goblin King. And probably never will," she added. "He'd only come if I wished someone away, right? Isn't that how it worked for you?"

'Might as well have her recite the story again, it might calm her down. Well, not that I'm complaining, maybe she'll actually get to finish it.'

"If you wished someone away, or if someone wished you away," Miss Sarah warned.

"Well, lucky for me I wouldn't wish anyone away. I really can't imagine doing something like that. Why did you, anyway?"

Miss Sarah looked regretful, and Alysa felt a tinge of guilt for asking such a question.

"I suppose the shortest answer is that I was a selfish brat. I just didn't like the attention my brother got from my father, I didn't like my stepmother at all, and I just wanted something to go my way. Also, I guess I never really expected it to work. I mean, it was just a whimsical wish, I was only telling him a story to keep him quiet." She paused a moment, lost in her own thoughts. "Honestly, I was such a brat, I wonder how the others tolerated me at all in the end."

Alysa silently agreed. When she first heard the tale of Miss Sarah's 'adventure,' she was surprised to hear the old lady portray herself as such a selfish, unloving older sister, wishing a magical being would take a mere toddler away. Well, maybe that part of the story was true; a resentful older sibling was not unheard of, after all. It gave the tale a realistic touch. However, the fact that she acted the way she did to her 'friends' and they never left her? That sounded a bit embellished no matter how Alysa looked at it.

"And after you realized Toby was gone," Alysa prompted, "he appeared?"

"Yes," Miss Sarah breathed. "Flew right into the nursery, he did. Of course, I regretted wishing him harm. I only wanted him to stop crying." And then she retold the tale Alysa had heard countless times before.

When she reached the final encounter with the Goblin King, Alysa was excited. Perhaps now, she could finally hear what happened between Sarah and Jareth. However, right when Sarah jumped off the ledge to reach Toby in the Escher room, the door slammed open. Both women jumped, the elder one crying out and clutching her heart, and the younger one standing up, taking a defensive pose between her friend and potential enemy.

Claudia Gammel looked into the room with disdainful eyes peering over rimless glasses. "I should've known that you'd be in here, Miss Hebe," she sniffed. The tall and spindly forty year old woman was wearing the staff uniform, a pale grey set of scrubs, along with a tiny hat to keep her gray and silver hair in place. That always made Alysa want to laugh; hats like that haven't been worn since the 1950s, nearly over a century ago!

"I certainly hope that you're not encouraging untolerated behavior," she continued.

"No, Mrs. Gammel, we were only reminiscing Miss Sarah's past," Alysa said with smile on her face, and not wanting to do anything more than shove that stupid hat down the older woman's throat.

Claudia was a nasty woman who seemed to have it in for the younger female the moment she laid eyes on her. Alysa always chalked it up to jealousy; the fact that she's younger, more cheerful, actually liked helping the residents, and maybe the fact that all of the elders seemed to prefer Alysa over Claudia. But that did not explain her original foul mood, why the elders did not like her in the first place. And it certainly did not make the menial jobs Claudia forced her to do any easier. Still, no matter how many bedpans Alysa was told to clean, she would never let Claudia get her down, or make her want to leave.

The strange thing was, apparently she used to be a cheerful helper. All the residents would sigh, _"Ah, before she changed, Claudia was a gem. A bit of a hard-ass," _they would admit,_ "but a gem."_ Miss Sarah would often mention 'that night' when she lost her chance, but remained tight-lipped on any details.

"Hmm," Claudia hummed with narrowed eyes, before turning to Miss Sarah, saying, "Your brother is here for a visit, Miss Williams, would you like me to bring him here?"

Miss Sarah's eyes lit up in fondness at the thought of her brother. "Oh, yes, Claudia, that'd be great, thank you."

Claudia gave Alysa one last withering look before exiting the room. Alysa rolled her eyes.

"Would you like me to leave while Tobias visits?"

"Oh, you don't have to, dear," Miss Sarah protested.

Alysa smiled. "It's fine, Miss Sarah. You just enjoy your brother's visit, 'kay?" She held out her hand for her sketchbook. When she got her book back, she headed toward the door. Before she left, however, she turned and said, "One quick question. I've never understood why the Goblin King just leaves you alone. You always go into great detail about all your friends, but anything about their king is so vague. What exactly did you do to be able to just get away from it all? What stopped him from trying to snatch up Toby again, or tempting you to wish him away?" One can say it was the writer in her, but Alysa just had to have closure on this. A good story needs to answer the tough questions.

Miss Sarah looked deep in thought. "I suppose that I don't talk of him much because I feel guilty. He asked me to stay with him, you see."

Alysa raised her eyebrows. This was certainly new. Was this spur of the moment? Making the heroine, who just happened to be the narrator, have the choice to be a queen?

"But, I declined his offer. Oh, he was tempting, that's for sure, promising me my dreams, adventure, and fantasy, all for the price of loving and fearing him. But I had to get Toby home. And at the moment, I'd had enough adventure."

"But," Alysa pressed, "why would he leave you alone? If your friends can pass through worlds, why doesn't he come for you again?"

"Because he has no power over me and mine, now," the elder answered, in all apparent seriousness.

Then the door opened again, revealing a man just into his seventies. His hair was mostly gone, and his belly was definitely not.

"Toby," Miss Sarah cried, struggling to get up from her rocking chair.

"Stay put, Sarah, I'll get over there," her half-brother said with a smile, walking toward her briskly. Here, Alysa decided to leave, and quietly slipped out the door.

Once she stepped into the hall, she pondered over the last words Miss Sarah spoke to her as she walked to the entrance hall. "No power over her? But how can that work?" she mused. "If he's such a great and powerful king, what on earth did she do to keep him away? Hmm, maybe her rejecting him caused him so much heartbreak, it snuffed out his powers." Alysa allowed herself a giggle at the thought of such a fairy-tale occurrence. "Well, okay, maybe not completely snuffed out. But the way she describes his actions definitely implies that he really liked her. Maybe he just respects her wishes, and that's why he leaves her alone."

Once she reached the entrance hall, she sat down and opened up her sketchbook again, right to the page of the Goblin King. He looked back at her with eyes that demanded the respect and honor that a king should have. And yet, behind it all, there was a tiny hint of sadness and fatigue.

Alysa shook her head. She had hated to do it, but she had not told the whole truth to Miss Sarah about that sketch. In truth, the man, if one could call him that, had been haunting her dreams for a few weeks. He would just stand there, randomly popping up, staring at her as if sizing her up. And then her mind's 'camera' would pan closer and closer to his eyes, staring deeper and deeper into her soul.

She slammed her sketchbook shut. It was bad enough that it happened at night, in her house, it did not need to happen here, in public, as well. Actually, she was not even sure if he was the Goblin King; something in her just told her that he could be that same being. And Miss Sarah's reaction to her drawing proved it. So, great. She has been spending so much time with a child-like dreamer, she was starting to wish that dreamer's reality could seep into her own.

'You have no time for that, Alysa! Get it together, and get your feet back on the ground.'

"Leaving so soon, Alysa?" came a snide voice. Claudia was standing in the hallway, looking at Alysa with that special face of disgust she reserved just for her. Alysa mentally calmed herself down, and faced the older woman with a charming and dazzling smile.

"Yes, I only came to visit Miss Sarah before I went to work," she explained. "So if you don't need me for anything else, then I should probably get going." True, she still had time to spare before she started her job, but that could be used elsewhere, where she was liked.

"Well," Claudia sniffed, "I suppose I shouldn't take you away from your money. But Mr. Kobold has asked to meet you; says he's heard your incessant giggling with Miss Williams and would like to know the source."

"Mr. Kobold?" Alysa asked. "Is he new? How come I've never met him?"

Mrs. Gammel gave her such a withering look. "Because Mr. Kobold is a man who likes to keep to himself. He's been here a few weeks, and is in the room above Miss Williams. I'm actually surprised," she added. "This is the first time he's asked to socialize with anyone. Anyway, if you've got the time, I'd suggest you go introduce yourself. Apparently, he's a man accustomed to getting what he wants." With that, she spun on her heel and walked smartly down the hall.

Alysa glanced at the clock on the wall. About thirty minutes to get to work, which was a fifteen minute walk from the senior center. She weighed her options, and decided that she did not know about this Mr. Kobold well enough to either stand around awkwardly for fifteen minutes, or talk amiably well over twenty. She will just introduce herself tomorrow, when she knows that she can either leave at a reasonable time or stay longer if wanted. So, she gathered up her purse and coat at the front desk, and left the building.

"Okay, walking straight to work will take me fifteen minutes," Alysa mused. "And I really don't want to be there early. Hmm, what to do for the next thirty minutes? I guess I can go to the park. Yeah, that sounds good."

She did not notice the narrowed eyes following her from the second floor.

* * *

><p><em>AN: And we are finished with the first chapter of my latest fanfic, probably the longest one I'll ever write. Certainly the longest chapter with 3,060 words. Who is staring after Alysa? And why is Claudia such a bitch? You'll find out in the next chapter. Please review, fave, or follow! Or all three, I won't complain. :P _


	2. To Wish Away is To Damn

When Alysa reached her destination, she sat down on a bench far into the park, close by to some tall evergreens that did little to shade the setting sun facing her. As she sat, she closed her eyes and listened to the world around her, taking in the crisp autumn wind blowing gently through the trees; the hum of the many electric cars zipping down the road close by; the few children still out, laughing merrily as they ran to avoid the cold. Suddenly, an unfamiliar noise from behind her made her straighten up and snap open her eyes.

A white barn owl was staring at her from high up in a tree to her right. It was a majestic-looking bird: holding itself with pride; its dark, round eyes piercing the air around it; its talons hooked onto the branch, looking menacing. With the sun bathing everything in a golden glow, the white feathers looked as if to be made of fire.

"Oh, my gosh," Alysa whispered in awe. "Please, don't move." She began rummaging quietly through her purse, looking desperately for something. Soon, she triumphantly pulled out a sketchbook and pencil. Holding up her wrist, she quickly pulled up the camera setting on her watch-like MyPhone and snapped a picture of the beautiful bird. Miraculously, it didn't move at all. The holographic picture floating in the air did not do the real thing justice, but it was only a reference for later, after all.

"Excellent, stay still," she commanded as she opened her sketchbook to the first blank page. She was never very good at animals, but something about this owl seemed to just inspire the artist. Glancing up every now and then to confirm certain lines and shades, she soon had a very regal owl head on her paper. Curious about the time, she looked at her wrist.

"Aw, crap!" she cried. "I gotta get out of here!" She slammed the sketchbook shut, threw it back into her purse, and bolted off the bench and out the park.

Behind her, the owl stared after her before taking flight in the darkening sky.

WWW

The next day, Alysa ambled up the front steps, in no real hurry to go anywhere. However, Mrs. Gammel was waiting for her with a frown etched deeply on her face.

"I cannot believe you!" she cried. "Didn't I ask you _nicely_ to come meet Mr. Kobold? He's _never_ asked for anyone before, and you just blew him off! He was _very_ upset last night! Didn't I say that he is a man who gets what he wants?"

Alysa just stood there, at a complete loss for words. "I'm, I'm sorry, Mrs. Gammel," she stammered.

"Oh, you're _sorry!_" the older lady scoffed. "Well, my dear, that's does _nothing_ for what I had to go through last night due to your _selfishness!_ Such a girl!"

"Well, excuse me, Mrs. Gammel," Alysa began hotly, finally finding her temper, "but if I remember correctly, you had said that _if_ I had time, you _suggest_ I go up. Well, weighing my options, I had thought it best if I-"

"Oh, _you_ thought best, did you?" Claudia said, incredulously. "Well, it was not best! He was in such a mood last night! I think it's only right that you go up right this moment and explain yourself!"

"Mrs. Gammel, I have other duties to perform. Pleasures, such as meeting new people, should come after the work."

"Oh, _screw_ the work! You go up now and apologize for ignoring his wishes! I'll handle your other duties, but just go and talk to the damned man! I can't handle him for another second!"

Alysa's eyebrows flew up in amazement. _'Well, the truth comes out, I suppose. Is Mr. Kobold such a menace? And did she just offer to do all my volunteer work? Wow…'_

In silence, she handed her coat and purse to the desk clerk, and scrambled up the stairs to the second floor.

"Kobold, Kobold, Kobold," she murmured, glancing at the nameplates on the walls, beside the doors. "Oh, wait, right above Miss Sarah. That would be… uh-huh, 213." Finding the appropriate room, she straightened up, brushed her hair back, and knocked.

"Enter," came the command, in an accent that Alysa thought might be British.

_'Well, here goes nothing.'_

"Mr. Kobold?" she called out, rather timidly, as she opened the door.

The room was dark; no lights were on. But she could still see him, or rather, his silhouette. He was standing by the window, tall but slightly hunched, with a cane supporting his weight. Beyond that, she could see no features of the room's tenant.

She smiled, and started to walk toward him. "I'm Alysa Hebe, and I was-"

"Don't come closer!" he barked, causing Alysa to jump a bit. "I know who you are. You are the source of that confounded giggling in the room below me, and the one who just walked away from my summons."

_'Oh my god. No wonder Claudia got so irritated. I haven't even known him for a minute, and he's already insufferable.'_

"Summons, sir? I was told that you wanted to meet me, but I had a job to get to yesterday. If I thought that I had time, I would've come up."

"You should have come when I asked!"

"Sir," Alysa said, trying really hard not to yell, "I wasn't about to be late to work for someone I hadn't met yet. You're still here, and I still came in the end, right? There's no need to act like a three-year-old!"

"A three-year-old? You think I am acting like a child? I merely wanted to know what was the cause of the constant noise below me. Don't you think, since you are the cause of my discomfort, you owe me the common courtesy of telling me that?"

Alysa thought for a bit. Okay, his logic was screwy, but maybe it made sense to him. She sighed.

"I'm sorry for being too loud, sir. This room had been unoccupied for months, and I wasn't aware you had moved in. If I knew, I would've introduced myself sooner, and we could've learned about your preference for quiet then."

"Your apology is under consideration. Now, please, sit." He gestured with the cane at a cushioned chair a little to Alysa's left, still too far to be able to see his face properly. She obliged, and waited for him to say something more. In turn, he seemed to be waiting for her to speak.

"Well?" he prompted. "What on earth has been so funny the past few weeks that you couldn't contain your laughter?"

Alysa chuckled breathily. "I believe that'd be Miss Sarah, sir. She and I have a game going on."

He seemed to stand straighter. "Go on."

"Um, well, you see, she tells stories. She's the heroine, and she goes into a fantasy world. What happens to her there is sometimes rather funny."

"You said something about a game? I don't quite see what that would be."

Alysa stared. "We make believe together," she stated, as if it was an obvious fact. "It's particularly nice to do after a stressful day. Sometimes, even, I'll draw pictures of the friends she meets in that world. It's actually rather cute," she laughed. "She says that her friends come to visit from the Underground, whenever she just needs a break from life."

"You talk about these friends as if you've never seen them. Is that the case? Surely, such a good friend would introduce you to hers."

Alysa was a little wary. Was Kobold the no-nonsense kind, or could he be as fun as Miss Sarah? Well, after that blow-up earlier, she deserved to have a little fun with the man. Might as well allow him to think her as strange. After all, the conclusion would not be too far off.

"No, I haven't actually met them. If they are seen by anyone but Miss Sarah, they'd be punished by their king. But Miss Sarah describes them so well, their appearances and their personalities, it's so easy to picture them. In fact, I'd like to show you my drawings someday." She looked around the dark room. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking, are you visually impaired?"

"What?" Mr. Kobold seemed to be taken aback. His voice hinted at confusion and indignity. "Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"Well then, sir, how about we turn on the lights? That way we can see each other more clearly."

"I can see you just fine," the elder man claimed.

"Haha, okay," laughed Alysa, "that way _I_ can see _you._ It's so much better than me stumbling in the dark, talking to a shadow."

He was silent a moment, seemingly thinking hard about his decision.

_'Oh my gosh, it's not like I'm asking to change everything in here, just the lights!'_

"I suppose that it'd be fine. I don't particularly like people looking at me. But, I suppose you can be an exception."

Alysa was intrigued. "Is it a social thing, or a self-conscious thing? My brother doesn't like going out much, cause strangers frighten him to death. Something chemical in his brain. Is it like that for you, or do you just think that you're not-" She stopped herself. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I just realized that's very rude of me. Asking such a personal question like that… I'm gonna go turn on the lights." With a red face, she stood up and walked to the door. She pushed the little button on the wall, and the room was flooded with the yellow glow of the ceiling light. Alysa turned around, and took in the man behind her.

His face was not as wrinkled as he was expecting, but the high brow still showed evidence of frowning over his life; anger, or worry? His mouth was pulled down slightly, as if not used to smiling at others; a lonely man, or maybe bitter? His eyes were… nice. His hair was fair-looking, nearly white, but mostly blonde, and he still had quite a bit of it left; did he use rogaine, or was he just lucky? He was wearing a light blue checkered button-up shirt, and tan slacks.

Alysa smiled. "That's much better. Now then, how about we try this again?" She walked up to him, and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Kobold, I'm Alysa Hebe."

Mr. Kobold stared at her, as if uncertain how to react. Slowly, he took her hand, and brought it to his lips. "That," he said, in a low voice, "is how one should greet a lady."

Alysa blushed a bit, but kept the smile on her face as she gently took back her hand. "I'm afraid I'm not much of a lady, but thank you. And if you don't mind me saying so, I don't see why you wouldn't want people to see you."

"If people see you, they tend to try to remember you," he replied mysteriously. "It's better to leave places when there's no one to remember you."

"Well that seems rather sad and lonely," Alysa commented, sitting back in her chair.

Mr. Kobold sent her a sharp glance. "I suppose it could be… You said that you've drawn sketches of this Miss Sarah's 'friends?' I'd like to see them now, if possible."

Alysa raised an eyebrow. He had that commanding tone again. _'He should really watch that, it makes him sound arrogant.'_ "Well, I left my sketchbook down at the desk. We're not allowed to bring bags to the residents, in case someone tries to smuggle something dangerous. If you're willing to wait a few minutes, I can run down and get it, if you'd like."

"That won't be necessary, we can use the intercom system." He walked over near the bed, and as he did, Alysa noticed that he did not exactly hobble, the way most of the residents did; his gait was brisk, and the way he used his cane seemed to be more fashionable than functional. He pushed the button on the nightstand, and waited.

"Yes, Mr. Kobold?" came the male desk clerk's voice.

"Would you be so kind as to bring Miss Hebe's sketchbook to my room? She wishes to show me some of her work."

"Yes, sire, right away."

_'Did he just call him 'sire?' Come on, he's not that intimidating. He's actually rather nice.'_

"Hebe… that's an interesting name," Kobold commented. "It sounds rather familiar."

Alysa beamed. She was quite proud of her name, and was always pleased to talk about names in general. Name meanings were a hobby of hers.

"Well, if you're into Greek mythology, that might be it. 'Hebe' is the name of the Greek goddess of youth. She's not very well-known, though. She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera, but is usually depicted as a cup-bearer. She also married Herakles after he was accepted into Olympus."

There was a moment of silence. "Is that it?" the elder man asked.

"Well, like I said, she's not very well-known. But, did you know Alysa comes from Greek origins, meaning 'princess?' Dad always says that he was very happy to learn about me, and that he would spoil me like one. My brother, though, is Ermanno, which is Italian for warrior. He and I were raised to act just as we were named."

"Yes, yes, very interesting. What is taking that book so long?"

Alysa frowned. He was not even listening! He was the one who had asked, for crying out loud! She tried a different tactic.

"'Kobold' also sounds interesting. That's German, isn't it?"

"Yes, I believe so," came the distracted reply.

"Yes, a kobold is a German imp, or goblin. They were mostly house-imps, sometimes helping the residents with chores and duties, but they'd do horrible things if they weren't properly thanked. I think I've heard of one story where one goblin, a king, cut off a man's hands and ate them, because he tried to skive off a deal, or something."

"Hmm, that sounds about right," the man chuckled.

Alysa looked at him with a sense of confusion. Most people would be rather shocked to hear that. _'Although, I suppose it's his name, so he's heard the story before. And, perhaps, he takes pride in his name, as one should.'_

"What's your given name?" she abruptly asked.

Mr. Kobold was taken aback. "I beg your pardon? Why would you want to know that?"

Alysa shrugged. "Names are something of a hobby of mine. I like to know if people become who they are because of what they're called."

He stared at her. "I don't remember my given name. I've always been 'Kobold' for a great deal of my life." He smirked. "I suppose that means, by your theory, I must be a cranky goblin."

Alysa laughed. "Well, I don't know you well enough to judge that. But I don't think that you'd be a cranky one. Maybe you'd be the helpful kind."

His smile slid off. "Oh, I doubt it. I can be cruel."

"Well, goblins don't always have to be cruel," Alysa pointed out. "They just give out what they think is a just punishment for when they are wronged. Although, I suppose eating one's hands is a bit overboard," the girl admitted.

Suddenly there was a knock and a rather short man came in. Alysa recognized him as the desk clerk. Wait, what was his name? Why was she suddenly blanking on this?

"Took you long enough!" barked Mr. Kobold. "Did you snoop into it yourself?"

"No, sir, of course not!" he cried, but so obviously lying. Alysa kind of pitied him.

The elderly man glanced at Alysa, before snatching the book, and hissing, "I'll deal with you later." Obviously, Alysa was not meant to hear that, so she politely looked away, and ignored the threat. Were they close? Did they know each other before Mr. Kobold moved in? Wait, how long has the desk clerk been here? Did she even see him before today? And why couldn't she remember his name?

The short man hobbled out of the room, quickly shutting the door. Mr. Kobold used one hand to open the book, and started to flip through the pages.

"Just, please don't look at my last two pages," Alysa said. "They're kinda… embarrassing, I guess."

Her host looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm intrigued. These are quite interesting. I wonder what the last two could be."

"Wait!" she cried, as he skipped to the end. She leapt off her chair, and ran to the elderly man, reaching for her book.

However, he used his cane to ward her off, and lifted the book high above his head.

"This is… extraordinary," he said. "Who is this? Your Miss Sarah must've described him in great detail."

She pushed his cane down, and jumped up to snatch the book out of his hands. Fortunately, with him hunching over, her height of 5'8" and long arms made this quite easy. Once the book was in her hands, Alysa glared at Kobold.

"I said, 'please,' you know," she said.

"Ah, now, precious, if everyone got what they want with 'please,' then countries wouldn't have wars, would they?"

Her scowl did not go away. "That was the Goblin King, and Miss Sarah actually doesn't talk about him much. She tends to avoid it as much as she can. She doesn't like to be reminded of him."

"So, she doesn't talk about him," the man echoed. Sadness seemed to fill his face.

Alysa's face finally softened. "I think she regrets too much when she does," she explained gently. For some reason, she felt the need to comfort him. Why? It was not like he was personally affected by it. "He stole away her brother, when she asked for it, even though she didn't really mean it. And then she rejected his, I believe, love for her. If she talks about this king, she fills her head with 'what-ifs' and 'if-onlys.' Sometimes, those can be quite painful."

Mr. Kobold looked at her. "Do you truly believe her? Do you think that such a tale actually happened?"

Alysa was unsure of her response. Slowly, she replied, "It's nice to have a separate world to escape into. Whenever life gets too hard, or even dull, it's nice to run to a whole new land where anything is possible."

"If you could, would you go there?"

Alysa smiled, and stared dreamily off into nothing. "I go there everyday."

"Would you… wish someone away?"

Wait. What?

Alysa stared at the man next to her. "Of course not! I can't think of any reason why I should!"

Mr. Kobold peered at her with scrutiny. "I've overheard the woman Gammel screaming at you before. Are you telling me that you've never wished she would just disappear?"

"No, I've never wished for something like that!" Alysa cried, becoming more horrified as the conversation continued. "What if something horrible actually _did_ happen to her? And it was _my_ fault? I'd feel just terrible! It'd be like if I had said, 'go to hell' to someone, and the next thing I know, their soul is actually damned."

"Are you telling me, that you've never wished anyone any harm in your life?"

"No, of course I'm not saying that. I get pissed off just as much as the next person. I usually tend to beat them into pulps. But I wouldn't want them to disappear forever. To ask the Goblin King-"

"I don't believe you!"

Alysa spun around to find Claudia standing in the doorway, a look of pure fury on her face.

"I allow your little games with Miss Williams, because the woman belongs in the state hospital, anyways. But to try and convince others to join your little… _cult,_ that is just unacceptable!"

"Mrs. Gammel, what are you-" Alysa began.

"When will you learn that you can't just wish your problems away? You can't just shirk your duties and never do work!" she cried shrilly.

_"'Never do any work?'"_ Alysa repeated. "How dare you say that? I have done everything you've asked of me, and I've never complained! You can't just hear half a conversation and draw up your own imaginary conclusions!"

"You're always just sitting in the residents' rooms, talking with them, never actually trying to help!"

"I try to keep them company! _That_ is what I had signed up to do when I first started volunteering. Playing make-believe with Miss Sarah, or chess or Rummikub with the others, _that_ is what makes them happy: human connection! I have never, _never,_ tried to wish a problem to go away without putting some effort into it myself!"

Claudia's eyes were bugging out, furiously trying to come up with an insult, or another hare-brained argument, or anything to get the last word in.

"If you truly believe in your precious Miss Sarah, why don't you wish me away? God knows, I'd probably end up in a better place than here! Or better yet, how about _you_ leave? Then I wouldn't have to deal with those constant comparisons to you, or hear any more of those _stupid_ myths and legends! Oh, but wait, that's all they are, aren't they? Myths and legends!" She began to laugh hysterically. "You can't wish away your goddamn problems! Otherwise, I'd said those _effing_ words years ago!"

"What words?" Alysa yelled back. "And how the hell would you know them? Miss Sarah refuses to tell anyone!"

"Oh, you think so, you stupid bitch?" Claudia cried shrilly. "You weren't the first person she told her stupid story! _I_ was! And she told _me_ the words. The words that don't even fucking work!"

"What freakin' words?!" screamed Alysa.

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now!"

There was a moment of silence where the two women stood and glared at each other. Then Mr. Kobold, a silent spectator all this time, grinned devilishly and said,

"As you wish."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Whaaa-? Kobold was actually- Okay, it was really obvious, I know... But! Here's the next chapter, finished with 3,696 words. I hope Claudia's hysterical cussing didn't offend too many people. Did you know that Sarah also means 'princess?' Yes, that was deliberate. Jareth, if you wanted to know, means 'ancient.' How apropos. By the way, in case it's not obvious, this takes place in the year 2056, seventy years after Sarah solved the Labyrinth. Hence Alysa's high-tech watch-phone. Please, don't forget to review! I want to know how I can improve, if needed. And if you haven't yet, fave or follow! I want to know if you like the story._


	3. Within the Labyrinth

The room went dark and lightning flashed. Alysa's and Gammel's heads spun around as dark figures started to dash across the room and crawl up the walls. The former had backed away toward the window, which suddenly swung open. She stopped herself before she fell out, flailing her arms a bit. She looked toward Kobold, and gasped.

Standing in an aura of sparkly magic, was a man very different from the one she was talking to moments before. He was now drawn to his full height of six feet; his hair had grown much longer, and was darker in color; his face was less wrinkled than before, though still showed a bit of age; and his eyes… how did she not notice his eyes before? They were mismatched! His right eye was a piercing, bright blue, but the left's pupil was so enlarged, the color seemed as dark as night.

His clothes were different, too; instead of the checkered shirt and tan slacks, he now wore a dark leather vest, tight black pants, boots, gloves, and a long cape. In his hands, his cane suddenly became a lot more ornate and expensive. He wore an amulet around his neck, a heavy silver one, fashioned in such a unique way that seemed impossible to describe. The man she had seen in her dreams. This, this could only be…

"You're him, aren't you?" Alysa whispered. "You're the King of the Goblins."

He bowed. "Jareth."

"What the hell?" Gammel cried.

"I am not surprised that you were involved again, Gammel," said the Goblin King, stepping towards her. "Though, of course, I had actually expected you to be Wished Away."

"Again?" Claudia echoed. "What are you saying?"

"Ah, of course. I had wiped clean your memories. But apparently, not well enough. You see, you little nuisance, we have met before. Twenty years ago, when you wished my Sarah away. However, she was far too old to be turned into a goblin, and to even set foot Underground. You wouldn't have Ran for her anyway. But now, you'll have a choice."

With a wave of his hand, he produced a crystal sphere out of thin air. He balanced it on the tips of his fingers, and held it out to the woman. "Would you accept your own dreams and wishes? Forget about the one you wished away? Or would you try to save her? Bring her back to her home and family?"

Claudia looked at the crystal, then at her young co-worker. "Forget who?" She greedily snatched the crystal out of his hands.

Jareth smirked widely. "What's said is said." He pushed a hand toward Alysa. A rush of wind hit her with such a force, she fell out the window, screaming.

And suddenly, she stopped. There was no sound from outside the room. Jareth rounded on Claudia.

"You've wished yet another person away," he said with a quiet fury, all propriety vanished. "First my precious Sarah, then her beloved friend. I'll see to it that this time, your memories are gone forever!"

He grabbed the crystal from the woman, seized her by the shoulder, and smashed the sphere against her forehead.

There was a moment's pause as the shards were absorbed into her skin, while her face was frozen in a silent scream of terror. Jareth abruptly released her, and she slumped to the floor like a broken marionette.

"I hope you live happily ever after," he said coldly.

WWW

Alysa was awake, but she kept her eyes closed. She could hear muffled voices. Ermanno must have left the television on again.

"Manny!" she yelled. "If you don't turn that down, I will shave your friggin' head tonight!"

It felt far too early to be up. Surely, she had plenty of time before she had to get to class. She shifted her position to get more comfortable. Since when was her bed this hard? Did she need a new one already? Or did Manny mess with her comfort number again? She blearily opened one eye to find her remote. And she quickly sat up straight, eyes wide in fear.

"This is not my room."

She was a stone circular room, with a ceiling high above, and windows of varying sizes scattered across the walls. Along the walls were carvings of scrollwork, and large steps encircled, reminding her of a stadium. Close by, was a large chair; possibly an armchair, but Alysa suspected it was a throne. She was lying in a pit close to the throne, strewn with rags and straw. All around her, little creatures with wrinkled faced and large eyes were staring at her and whispering. There were also multiple chickens of various colors, which she found stranger than the creatures.

"What the heg?" Alysa slowly said. "How did I get-?"

_'Oh, yeah… Claudia wished me away. That nasty… wait. Holy crap, I'm in the Labyrinth. I'm in the freakin' Labyrinth! Miss Sarah was telling the truth! It wasn't just pretend! Wow… okay. Wow. Mixed feelings happening right here. Wait.'_

"Miss Sarah!" she cried, jumping to her feet. No sooner than she did, a dozen of the creatures- goblins, she supposed- crowded around her, forcing her back in the pit.

"No, no! You need to let me out, I've got to go back!"

"Did you hear that?" one of the goblins squeaked. "She's _got_ to go back!" Many of his comrades laughed in response.

"Well, I do! I gotta get back to Miss Sarah! She's bound to have heard all that, and she's gonna be worried sick!" Alysa was close to panicking. After all, Sarah was quite fearful of the Goblin King- Jareth- and if she ever learned that Alysa was in his kingdom… She did not want to even think of the panic attack that would ensue.

"Get off of me! Please!" she begged. "I don't want to hurt you!"

"Sorry, lady!" said another goblin, one with a deep voice and a snout. "You's gotta stay 'til King gets here!"

Alysa sighed in resignation. "I'm so sorry," she cried softly. And she started thrusting her limbs out as hard as she could, kicking, kneeing, punching and elbowing anyone around her.

The goblins were taken by surprise, and started scuttling away from the human terror. As soon as they were clear of her, Alysa bolted for the double doors, slamming them open, and sprinted down the halls.

She found herself in a city, but she didn't take the time to take in her surroundings. She ran through the streets, weaving around buildings and fountains. When she reached a large gate, she took no time in pushing them open.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," she whispered in disbelief. Before her was a sea of junk: hills of broken toys, possibly lost things, and beds and pots and pans and mirrors.

"I've _got_ to get out of here," she began determinedly, "and I'm not about to let _anything_ stop me!"

WWW

Jareth strolled down the hall toward the throne room. He had plans for this new girl. Oh, did he have plans, and he would enjoy every bit of it. He certainly _could_ have just popped in the throne room, possibly lounging on his throne for when she first saw him. But, he thought, it would leave a much better impression for her to see him throwing open the doors to her. Surely, she would be awake now. It would be best to relieve her of any fears that she would be sure to have upon awaking.

He pushed open the double doors, prepared to see a crying girl waiting to be consoled. What he got, though, was an empty pit. Slowly, he looked about the room, staring at each of his subjects, who looked upon him with trembling figures.

"Now," he said, nonchalantly, "I could have sworn that you were all summoned Aboveground because someone was Wished Away. Usually," he began to slowly circle the room, "that means that there should be a child in this pit. And oddly enough, I don't see one." He reached down, and grabbed an unlucky goblin by the throat. "Why is that?" he growled.

"Sorry, Majesty," the goblin croaked. "She di'n't wanna stay. Said she had to find her Miss Sarah."

The King of the Goblins threw him to the ground. "Find her!" he yelled. "Find her and bring her here!"

The room was quickly emptied, and Jareth walked to his throne, sitting in it rather unceremoniously. He did not expect any of them to find her, but it was better to sulk alone. Besides, he was exhausted; a transformation and perception spell to hide from the girl, plus erasing the Gammel woman's memory, and making sure it was done completely this time, was all very taxing on his powers, not as strong as they were before. But it would not do to think about such things, so his thoughts returned to the newest addition to his kingdom.

Well, what a rotten start to welcome her. She was supposed to be _here!_ Why was it that this girl never acted as he expected? She should have come when he first asked to meet her. That was the polite thing to do. She did not even go straight to work like she had said! She seemed to have plenty of time to lounge in that park and draw him as an owl.

Reaching into another dimension, he pulled out her drawing book. She had dropped it before she fell out the window. He flipped through the leafs before finally reaching his own portrait. He cannot get over how well she had captured his likeness. Right down to the unseemly wrinkles near his eyes. But she claimed that Sarah refused to talk about him… so how did she know? He turned the page, and saw the owl. Apparently, she had finished it after leaving him that night. She had changed the pose, though. Instead of standing regally and surveying all around him, the owl had its wings spread open wide, ready to take flight, as if about to hunt.

Jareth smiled. Well, that representation was not too far off. After all, did he not capture his prey shortly after she had finished this sketch?

Where was that girl, anyway? Feeling that he would be better off searching for her himself, he produced another crystal from thin air. Turning it a bit, he willed it to tune into the aura of the girl. Before long, she appeared in the crystal. She seemed to be in a forest, running and weaving through the trees. She looked back fearfully. Jareth raised an eyebrow, and willed the crystal to pan out a bit. Apparently, she was being chased by a group of lanky, beaked creatures with bright orange fur: The Fire Gang.

He straightened up in his chair. He knew exactly where she would end up if she kept ahead of the strange creatures; and, judging by how her feet were flying, she probably would. He smirked, and with a twirl of his cape and a cloud of glitter, the throne room was empty.

WWW

Alysa looked back fearfully, not breaking her stride, breathing in short, panicked gasps. The weird things did not seem to be following her now, but their laughing voices still echoed throughout her head.

_"Hey, come on! Hang out! We just wanna have a good time! Let's throw heads!"_

She remembered what Miss Sarah had said about these guys, how they had tried to tear her limb from limb, just for fun.

_'Not for me, thanks,'_ she thought. She decided to slow down a little. Her legs were screaming in protest, and her lungs could not expand far enough to allow the air she needed. Finally, she stopped altogether, resting on a nearby tree, inhaling deeply.

_Ba-ring._ Alysa jumped a little at the sound of her MyPhone.

"What?" she gasped. "I got a freakin' service here…? _Wow!_" She pressed a button at the side, acknowledging the alert.

"Alysa," came the programmed male voice-box, "you have run zero-point-five-miles in five minutes. It is recommended that you slow down and drink plenty of water before continuing."

Alysa shook her head in disbelief. She really just did that? She _so_ did not need to know. Why did she even have this app, again? She decided to delete it later.

"Gotta get out," she whispered, trying to find the strength to get up. Despite how her thighs protested, she slowly stood up. "Gotta get to her."

"Get to who, exactly?" came a voice to her left.

Alysa swiveled, and beheld the Goblin King in all his glory once again.

"Oh, crap." She did not even wait to hear what he had to say. She ran again, bolting off to her left, planning to go around him before heading back to her original path.

Unfortunately, she did not go far. Jareth appeared before her again, this time reaching for her and slamming her against a tree, a look of annoyance on his face.

"Don't defy me, girl," he growled. "I will not allow you to run from me again."

"Apparently," she groaned, feeling the tree scrape against her back. Suddenly, she realized how close he was to her. "Could you get off me, please?"

"Will you run?" he queried.

"Probably not," she admitted, "don't think I can."

He studied her for a second. Then he slowly released her and stepped back. Then he smirked. "Just in case…" And with a flick of his fingers, the tree branches sprang to life and bound her wrists to the trunk above her head.

"Seriously?" Alysa cried, struggling against her binds. She did not like how vulnerable this made her feel. "I said I wouldn't run, didn't I?"

"It's been my experience that, unlike the Fae, humans don't always keep their word."

Alysa rolled her eyes, hoping that her bravado did not fade while she was in this position.

"Now," Jareth said, pulling on his glove, "exactly why were you running? Surely, you'd know that I mean no harm."

"Actually," Alysa began, "I'm not so sure about that. You did, after all, push me out a second story window. Thanks for that, by the way," she added sarcastically.

"You are unharmed," he pointed out dismissively. "Answer the question."

"I gotta get out of here," Alysa explained in a voice that greatly implied how obvious the answer was. "Miss Sarah probably heard everything in your room, and I'd like her to know that everything's okay."

"Ah, but, unfortunately, you cannot get out of here without someone from Aboveground taking you. And the one who had done the wishing refused to Run, so I'm afraid, you're stuck here."

"What?" Alysa cried loudly. "I can't stay here! I've got stuff to do back home! I've got classes, I've got my jobs, I'm the only one who knows how to deal with Miss Sarah, I've got to help Manny with the rent, he and I were going to start up our own company… And you're saying, that I can't do any of that now, that my life is just _over_, just 'cause that _hag_ didn't want me to be near her anymore? How the _hell_ is that fair?" She was furious now. She did not always get angry, but when she did, hell hath known no fury.

"You know what? This is partially _your_ fault! If you hadn't decided to disguise yourself, and talk to me about Miss Sarah, then Claudia wouldn't have heard all that, and gotten pissed off like she does, and she wouldn't have friggin' lost it, and said those words! Why the hell did Miss Sarah tell them to her, anyway?"

Jareth looked on her calmly and silently, before saying, "Are you finished?"

"No, I'm not!" she screamed back. "I'm still plenty friggin' angry! I can't do anything about this? Can't Run for myself? Or strike some sort of deal? Or ask someone else to Run for me? Like my brother, or something?"

He shook his head.

"Damn! Dammit, dammit, dammit!" she yelled out in the air, pulling fruitlessly at the branches and kicking the dirt. Throwing back her head, and screwing her eyes shut, she screamed, "I hope you're friggin' _happy_, Claudia Gammel! And I hope that Mr. Lucas gives you the time of your life with another one of his life stories! In fact, friggin' _ten_ of them!" Breathing heavily, she slumped against the branches. "Please let me go," she whispered. "I won't run."

Jareth, seeing how broken she was, decided that she probably no longer had the will or strength to go against her word. With another lazy finger flick, the branches released her. She slid down the tree, and sat on the forest floor, knees brought up, and head bowed down.

They were silent for a few minutes; Alysa resigning herself to her new fate, Jareth waiting for her little tantrum to blow over. And, alright, he did not know exactly how to handle a situation such as this. It had been quite a few decades since someone was Wished Away, and never had they been older than a child's age. True, this woman was just a mere girl to him, but still undeniably too old and matured to be turned into a goblin. But, certainly not too old to be kept.

"So, what happens next?" she finally said, keeping her head low. "Do you just turn me into a goblin now, or I'm a just a wanderer in this world?"

"Well, now, that depends on you." Jareth held out his hand.

Alysa looked up, stared at the appendage warily, before placing her own hand into it. The Goblin King pulled her up, and he and his prey vanished.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Since we'll probably never see him again, I'd like to mention Mr. James "Jim" Lucas. He's a crotchety old man, the kind who's always saying, 'Back in my day, we didn't have this fancy techie stuff you kids have today!' And then he'd go on about his life lessons with a switch to his rear, and such. Just my little tribute to Henson and Lucas for their amazing movie. ^-^ And that's the end of chapter three, a bit shorter with only 2,957 words. Does it end now? NO! What happens to Alysa? What does Jareth mean by "keep her?" And how will our young heroine cope? Find out in future chapters!_

_Oh, and hey! See that box down below? The one you can type in? If you wanna use that, I won't complain. :)_

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	4. The Wager

When her feet slammed into solid ground, Alysa's knees buckled, and with a cry, she clutched onto the nearest thing to steady her. Unfortunately, that was Jareth. He held her by the waist, with a look of smugness very apparent on his face.

Alysa, however, seem to take no notice. "Thank you," she said as she released him, and straightened up. If Jareth felt disappointment at her lack of embarrassment or flustering, he showed no sign. "So, what happens now?" she asked. "Is there, like, a ritual, or something? Some sort of… initiation…?"

Jareth chuckled. "No. As it turns out, you are actually too old to have a goblin's fate."

Alysa looked confused. "Well, then what? Why am I here?"

"You are here, because you caused someone trouble. Someone despised you enough to wish your existence away."

"Wait a second," the young woman cut in. "Are you trying to make this sound like _my_ fault? Because I had done _nothing_ to Claudia to make her hate me!"

"Are you quite certain about that?" the Goblin King questioned.

"Yes," came the firm reply. "The moment we met, she was nasty to me. Everyone had said that she was already bitter about something, but it seemed to increase tenfold when I started volunteering." She looked at him with a tilted head. "You've met her before," she said slowly, recalling the brief interaction Jareth had with the woman, before she was pushed out the window.

Jareth nodded. "Correct. She used to be Sarah's personal aid, and of course, Sarah told her about her time in the Labyrinth. However, unlike you, Gammel was not as open to the idea, and ridiculed her. And though it was a jest, she still Wished Away Sarah, _my_ Sarah," he finished angrily. Alysa shrank back from the waves of fury he was emanating.

"Sadly, Sarah was far too aged to even set foot in my kingdom, so there was no reason for Gammel to Run. I had erased her memories, but…" He paused for a moment here, as if debating whether he should tell her the rest. "I suppose that there was a chance that I missed a few strands of memory."

Alysa smiled. "Don't go hurting yourself, there, man," she teased.

Jareth's eyes flashed. "Do not make me regret telling you this story," he warned quietly.

She raised her hands. "Sorry, sorry, continue."

He looked at her with a sense of warning, before saying, "It is... _possible_ that I had missed a few strands of memory, so… there is a _chance_ that she felt that something had happened, but could not quite remember what, but felt that she had missed the chance of a lifetime."

"Hold up," Alysa interrupted again. "'Chance of a lifetime?' Is that what this is?"

"Not the same chance, I suppose," Jareth said, walking over to his throne, assuming his usual position of legs over one arm. "It's one thing to Wish Away, and another to be Wished Away. The one who had done the Wishing is given the chance to take back their words of hate or anger, and Run to get the Wished Away back. They never make it," he added wickedly, glancing to gauge her reaction.

Getting none but a stare of mild interest, he continued. "However, a Wished Away remains in the castle until retrieved. If they are not, then they become my subjects, citizens of the Goblin Kingdom. Naturally, they become goblins."

"But I'm too old?" Alysa asked.

"Correct."

There was a moment of silence.

"So… what now?"

"Well, you are still my subject, so you are free to do what you will. Simply swear fealty to me, and your life will end up being much easier."

Alysa stared at the king. "That's it?"

"Indeed."

"I just have to swear loyalty to you, and I can just do whatever the heck I want?"

"I do not like repeating myself."

Alysa thought for a while. The smart thing to do was just follow his conditions. But for some reason, she was wary to do so. Perhaps it was because Miss Sarah had spoken negatively of the King before, when she did speak of him. Or maybe it was his habit of placing himself in her dreams. Seriously, though, how can he expect her to just be loyal to him after his weeks of stalking her?

"Exactly what does swearing fealty to you do for me?"

Jareth sighed. "Well, how about I don't lop off your head where you stand?"

Alysa rolled her eyes. "Seriously? You want me to like you, right? If you're gonna threaten me, that's not gonna do you any good. No, but really, why do I have to do it?" she asked. "I really don't see a problem with me not swearing fealty to you. I mean, all is does for you is ensure that I won't betray or rebel against you without dire consequences, and from what I already know of you, that probably wouldn't stop you anyway. For me, all it does is put me under your protection, which I'm not sure is a good thing, honestly," she added.

Jareth straightened up. "Do you really think you could last even a week in my Labyrinth without my protection? You, whom I found running from the Fire Gang?" She was doing it again! Why must she always act in such unpredictable ways?

Alysa brushed her hair out of her face, wishing in the back of her mind that she had remembered to wear a hair-tie. "Hey, if Miss Sarah could do it back in the 80's, I don't see why I can't."

The Goblin King stood up. "You would do well to remember that my Labyrinth is always changing, that I may shape it in any way whenever I wish."

She was starting to feel a little underestimated, and that would simply not do. "True as that may be," she began hotly, "I really don't see any reason why I wouldn't be able to live out there on my own. Really, how hard can it be?"

"Shall we wager on it then?" He stepped closer to her, eyes glinting with mischief and pride. Alysa stood her ground, staring back at him with a steely gaze of her own. "If you can manage to survive three days in my Labyrinth on your own, without any help from me, then I'll allow you to live however and wherever you please. But," here he started walking around her, still looking at her, "if you end up needing or using my assistance, then you shall be mine to rule, no questions or complaints. Is it a deal?"

Alysa smiled. "Sounds good to me. But, you can't sneakily try to get me to accept your help. Like grow my food for me, or whatever, and claim that makes you win. You can always come to tempt me, or something, but that's how your help should be offered: openly and honestly."

Jareth raised his eyebrow at her possible innuendo, but only said, "That sounds fair. I believe we have a deal."

Alysa grinned more broadly, and held out her hand. Jareth looked at it, just as he did back Aboveground. He reached for it, and placed his lips upon it again.

"That," he said, "is how we strike bargains here."

Her face flushed a bit, and Jareth allowed himself a small smile of triumph.

"This should be easy," Alysa said, taking her hand back. "A piece of cake."

"We shall see."

Then he and the throne room vanished.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, this ended up being unexpected. Like Jareth, Alysa surprises me by acting in ways I did not predict. I didn't think she'd be the type to make a bet just cuz she didn't want to swear loyalty to Jareth. I totally thought this would be a Beauty and the Beast deal. But, she made a fairly good point, so I thought this could be fun._

_Anyhoo, that's the end of chapter four. And it's so far my shortest one, with only 1,258 words. But, I think this chapter was just going to be about the start of the wager, and future chapters would be about her challenges. There also might be larger gaps between updates. But don't be discouraged! We still need to know: Why was she dreaming about him? Will she win the wager? Well, my guess is 'yes, duh', but like I said earlier, this story is just full of surprises. Please review! Or fave! Or follow! Or, you know, don't; it's not like I'd find out. (:_


	5. A Stinky Start

Alysa looked at her new surroundings, and covered her mouth and nose in disgust.

"Oh, my god!" she cried, before screaming to the air, "Was that really necessary, ya jerk?! Oh, I'm gonna puke," she groaned.

Jareth had landed her in the Bog of Eternal Stench. Sarah had mentioned it, of course, and the name was pretty self-explanatory, but nothing,_nothing,_ could have prepare Alysa for the indescribably horrific scent that filled her nose.

"Out, out, out," she muttered nasally, running on the dirt path as fast as she could, making sure that she did not slip into the festering green muck beside her.

'_Good freakin' lord, this is nasty! I'm gonna kill him the next time we see each other. Seriously, this was completely uncalled for. Okay, get out, find a place to take up shelter. Let's go. Oh, fantastic,' _she thought with relief. '_A bridge. And it looks like it leads out of this hell-hole.'_

Suddenly, a loud, yet squeaky, voice called out. "Halt! None shall pass without my permission!"

There was someone in her way. He had very long, bushy eyebrows, with a matching mustache. He was dressed in a red shirt with golden sleeves, and a royal blue feathered cap sported his head. An eye-patch covered his left eye, and in his green gloved hand, he brandished a scepter of sorts. This could only be Sir Didymus. He was exactly as Miss Sarah had described. Except one thing.

She had failed to mention that he was a fox.

"You're a- You're-" Alysa stammered.

"A brave knight, yes, I am!" he cried. "I am the guardian of the bridge, and let no one pass! It is my sworn duty to guard this structure until I draw my final breath!"

'_Yep. Definitely Sir Didymus. As dramatic as Miss Sarah said. But, a fox?'_

"A pleasure to meet you, Sir Knight. Am I addressing the brave Sir Didymus?"

The knight's eyes gleamed with pride and pleasure. "Ah! My reputation hath preceded me! That is, indeed, my name. And how is it that thou hast heard of me?"

"I'm a friend of Miss Sarah's." The stench was getting worse with every second. Alysa felt that she had to cross. How did Miss Sarah get past this guy again?

"What? An acquaintance of the Lady Sarah? Well, my dear, any friend of Lady Sarah's, is no enemy of mine." He sheathed his sword, took off his cap, and gave the mortal girl a deep bow.

Feeling it proper, Alysa offered a somewhat clumsy curtsy before saying, "Sir Didymus, may I please cross this bridge? I don't think I can stand this smell for much longer!"

"Smell? What smell dost thou mean?" He inhaled deeply. "Ah, nothing but fresh air here, my dear!"

"How can you stand-? Never mind," Alysa said, shaking her head, "just please, Sir, may I cross? I really must get out!"

"Ah, um, wait," Sir Didymus seemed to be in deep thought. Alysa impatiently waited, looking around and hopping from foot to foot. "Yes? Yes, I suppose you can, milady…?"

"Alysa," she said, "I'm Alysa."

"Well, Lady Alysa, you have my permission to cross the bridge."

"Oh, thank you!" she cried in relief as Sir Didymus stepped to the side. Looking at the bridge, she was suddenly hesitant to cross it. It did not look very sturdy, and seemed to be in the process of renovation.

"I know it does not look much, milady, but fear not!" the fox encouraged. "It has been rebuilt by myself and my good friend, Sir Ludo, and it is perfectly safe to cross."

"You sure?" Alysa asked.

"Absolutely positive," he confirmed. "I think."

"Great." She tentatively placed her foot on the plank that served as a bridge. It creaked loudly under her weight, and she was terrified for a second that it would collapse. At the last second, she decided to run for it.

While screaming.

And that seemed to work. She made it without the bridge collapsing, though it groaned and bowed.

"See? I told you it would hold, Lady Alysa," Sir Didymus said, "there was no need for that noise, I assure you!"

"Well, thank you very much, Sir Didymus," Alysa called out from the other side. "Come visit me at any time!" And she slipped past the rocks bordering her path, leading her to a forest.

WWW

Once out of range of the horrid stench, Alysa inhaled deeply. Fresh air had never smelled so good.

"Okay, first thing to do- shelter. No wait," she corrected herself as she wiped her brow. "Find a way to cool off. Gosh, this heat is ridiculous."

Back Aboveground, it was the beginning of November, and the weather was very chilly, so Alysa had dressed accordingly: black sweatpants and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt, with a black tank underneath, and Uggs covering up thick socks on her feet. Here, Underground, the weather was similar to July in Phoenix, Arizona. She was too distracted to notice before, but now that she felt safe and somewhat comfortable, she realized that she was sweating up a storm.

'_Ew. Oh, I hope that I didn't reek like this in the King's throne room,'_ she thought, thinking about her little workout prior to Jareth catching her.

She kicked off her shoes, peeled off her sweaty socks, and removed her shirt. She tied off the neck, and placed her footwear inside before sealing off the bottom as well. Then she knotted the sleeves together, creating a crude knapsack.

"Pretty clever, I'd say," Alysa praised herself before setting off down the path. She looked around, searching for anything that could be made into a temporary shelter. "Okay, Alysa, this is your chance to put all your reading and studying zombie apocalypse scenarios to the ultimate test. First: food and water source. Okay, well I just left a bog, that means that there's got to be water somewhere, right? Find that, and find shelter nearby. Ready, get set, go."

She ambled off the path a little bit, closer to where she felt the bog would be flowing down. Soon enough, she found it: a little stream of sorts. It still reeked a bit, and looked like a mudhole more than anything. She traveled downstream a bit more, hoping it would clear up.

Eventually, it did. She finally reached a part of the stream where it no longer reeked, and large rocks filtered the icky gunk away. A small part of her wished that she did not have to wreck the beauty of the crystal water; but it was soon dashed away as she placed her aching feet within the cool stream.

"Oh, sweet merciful relief!" she sighed. After a few minutes of relaxing in the water, she threw off her sack and cupped her hands to gather as much of the refreshing liquid as she could before guzzling it down. Once she was finished with that, she splashed herself, making sure her hair was slicked away from her face, letting tiny rivers flow down her neck and into her shirt.

"Oh, geez, that's cold!" she cried, jumping a bit. "But so good! But so cold! But so good!" She looked around. "Okay, that's enough comedy and wading for now. Let's see, where there's water, there's usually vegetation. Anything edible?"

Alysa stepped out of her little pool, grabbed her shirt, and looked along the shore for any types of food. As she searched, she thought back to the last conversation she and the Goblin King had.

Big mistake.

"Oh, my gosh, did I actually say _tempt_, of all freakin' things?!" she whispered in a mortified voice, clutching her head in embarrassment. "Why the fudge did I use _that_ word? And why, why, _why,_ did I grab him like that? And let him kiss my hand again?! Oh, my gosh, oh my gosh, _oh my gosh!_ No," said firmly, straightening up a bit. "No, Alysa, calm down, and focus on what you're doing. Food. Look for food. Don't think about it."

'_Don't think about that sexy voice, or how gentle he was when he steadied me and- DAMMIT!'_

WWW

The moment he sent her to the Bog of Eternal Stench, Jareth pulled out a crystal to see her reaction to the smell. He was quite amused at her exclamation and actually chuckled when she yelled at him, unaware that he could actually see and hear her. He decided that she would probably be in the Bog for quite a while, and that it was not worth the magical drain to watch her entire progres, and tossed the crystal over his shoulder.

Not long after, though, he finally grew bored enough to check on her again. When her image appeared, he saw that her shirt was off and slung around her torso like a pack. She had just found the stream in the forest and was heading toward it with a look of relief. He was pleased to see her take in the beauty of his forest before cooling off in the water. He was rather entranced as he watched the water flow from her face and down her neck, past her collarbone, and down her shirt. The moment shattered when she started jumping in place, crying out in pain, then relief, back to pain, and then relief again. He chuckled at the faces she made as each feeling passed through.

She walked out of the pool, then seemed to recall something. A look of realization dawned on her, then mortification. She clutched her head and ducked down in embarrassment, lamenting her last words to the Goblin King. Jareth raised an eyebrow. So, she _did_ get flustered after all. Just gets lost in the moment, or hides her feeling really well. Obviously, he would just have to push a little bit harder to play with this girl properly.

The double doors creaked open, and a small goblin with floppy ears came in timidly. "Your Majesty?" he squeaked out in a wavering voice.

"What is it?" Jareth called out lazily, not removing his eyes off the human in the crystal.

"We found the girl, and the dwarf Hoggle is on his way to get her to come here."

Jareth looked up. He had forgotten that he told them to find the girl. Well, that order was pointless now. However… he thought about the next course of action.

"Stop him," he finally said. "Don't have him bring her here, but he may introduce himself, if he'd like. In fact," he smirked, "have him give her the grand tour."

WWW

Alysa, having finally gotten over her little pity party, had resumed her search for food. She found a bush bearing some sort of red berries nearby, and was contemplating on eating them.

"How are you supposed to know if they're poisonous or not?" she asked aloud. "Let me think… Okay, they're not white, no three leaves, and they're smooth. Alright, so far so good." She walked to the bush, grabbed a handful of the fruit, pulling them off their stems. Crushing one in her hand, she watched the juice run thinly down her fingers. "'Kay, not sappy, and it doesn't smell like almonds. What else was there?"

Her stomach grumbled loudly.

"Ah, screw it," she finally said. Most of the signs pointed to not being inedible, so she popped one in her mouth. Her eyes widened immensely. "Oh, my gosh… this is delicious! It's like pomegranates!" She started dropping handfuls in her mouth, relishing the taste over her tongue.

"All right, so, I've got a food source, and a bath of sorts, now I need to find a place to sleep." She looked up at the trees, and nearly jumped up and down in excitement when she saw a really good climbing tree with branches higher above intertwining with another tree's limbs, creating a perfect hammock. "Ohmigosh, I'm gonna be like Katniss!"

"And what is a katniss?" a croaky voice came from behind her.

"Judas priest!" Alysa shrieked, jumping away from the bush and forming a defensive pose, muscles tensed. "Who's there?"

A short man with a large round head walked out from the bushes. He face was really wrinkled, and his round eyes were a bright blue. His nose was huge, similar to a potato. He wore a white poet's shirt with a brown vest, and a sash of knick-knacks, as well as brown pants and little black boots. A little pouch hung on the left side of his pants.

"Oh, my gosh! You've got to be Hoggle!" Alysa cried, relaxing. Out of habit, she immediately started to reach for her sketchbook in her purse, before remembering that neither were on her person. "Ah, cuss! I finally get a chance to sketch you properly, and I don't have my stuff! Stupid irony," she grumbled, thoroughly peeved.

"Wait a moment," the dwarf said slowly, looking at her with great intensity. "Ain't you the girl Sarah's always talking about? Alysa?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"You got wished away?"

"Why else would I be here?"

"Ah, Sarah's not going to be happy about this. She was always worryin' that that would happen, or that you would finally get fed up with that hag that calls herself Claudia. She _really_ didn't want you to ever meet Jareth."

"She worries about me?" she asked in surprise.

"Of course she does," he replied. "What else would she do when you're her only friend in that house she's trapped in all week?"

"I dunno, I guess I kinda thought she'd mostly let you guys talk. Anyhoo, whatcha doing here?"

"I'm to give you the grand tour."

Alysa looked at him warily. "Did His Majesty put you up to this?"

"What? Uh, no, I just- maybe?" Hoggle seemed surprised, probably at being caught so soon. He started shifting from one foot to the other; it seemed really familiar.

"Hey, wait a second! You were the desk clerk today!"

"Oh, so you finally realized, didja?"

"How did I not recognize you before?" she asked incredulously.

"Don't feel too bad," he said gruffly. "Jareth was hidin' the both of us, so as to not get anyone excited. Frankly, I'm surprised he letcha turn on the lights. That was supposed to do well enough to hide him."

"Oh, well that explains his reluctance," Alysa muttered. "Why didn't he just disguise himself in the first place?"

"Probably was tryin' to save his strength. He's not as-"

"That's enough small-talk."

Alysa spun around. Once again, the Goblin King had managed to sneak up on her. He was leaning on her climbing tree, and was staring at Hoggle with a look of fury.

"Oh, Your Majesty," Hoggle exclaimed, kneeling really low. Alysa raised an eyebrow at the use of his title. Did he only call him by his name behind his back? "Why have you come here? There was no need."

"Well, Higgle," Jareth began, standing up.

"Hoggle," Alysa interrupted. Jareth and Hoggle looked at her in surprise. "His name is Hoggle."

"Whatever," Jareth dismissed the interruption. "I believe I had ordered you to give our guest a tour of the Labyrinth. I don't recall saying that talking about my personal life was permitted."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Hoggle said apologetically. "I'll get right on it."

"That's not necessary," Alysa said, her head held high. "I'd rather not be distracted quite yet, if you don't mind."

Jareth and Hoggle looked at her again, Hoggle with a look of fear, and Jareth with squinted eyes.

Alysa cleared her throat. "I'm _really_ tired right now, 'cause running for your life does that to you. So I was actually about to try to get some sleep."

Jareth smirked. Hoggle backed away from the two, clearly not wanting to get in the middle of whatever was going on between them.

"Well, now precious," he purred, stepping closer. "I believe that the wager was for you to survive the Labyrinth for three days. How can you truly survive the place by staying in just one spot?"

Alysa stood her ground, but her mouth seemed to not want to work properly. She swallowed fearfully, and stammered. "I- I guess- I-"

"Another beautiful thing about my kingdom, as I believe I've told you, I can shape it in any way I want. That means, my dear, that at any given moment, you may find yourself in a new place entirely. Part of my Labyrinth is the unwelcome surprises, after all."

Alysa felt that she knew where this was going, and did not like it one bit. "Wait a second," she said. Then she turned around to face Hoggle. "Since I don't know if I'll see you again anytime soon, before this jerk sends me off somewhere, can I ask you something?"

Hoggle looked flabbergasted at the girl. Did she really just turn her back on _Jareth?_ Well, from the pissed off look on his face, she was in for an unpleasant surprise later.

"The next time you see Miss Sarah, could you tell her that I'm all right? Don't lie or anything, if she asks where I am, tell her the truth. I'm in the Goblin Kingdom, but I'm kicking butt." She turned back to Jareth, smiling at the look of disapproval on his face. "Now that I've done that, what were you gonna do?"

Jareth was furious. First she turned her back on him, then insulted him and his Labyrinth, and now she was acting like this was acceptable.

"I think that a good Run ought to do you some good. Shall we play a game, my dear? If I can catch you within the next half-hour, I win our bet. But if you manage to evade me, the wager continues."

Alysa looked at him with disbelief. "Are you serious right now? Didn't you hear me say how tired I was? I don't really feel like doing anything right now!" She crossed her arms and looked at him thoughtfully. "Tell you what: if you let me get some sleep right now, I'll play your little game when I wake. Sound fair?"

"I suppose," Jareth agreed, though seeming a little miffed. "The moment you find yourself somewhere new, that's when it will start. And to give you an advantage, I'll give you a five minute head-start."

"No taking time off," Alysa warned. "Miss Sarah told me that you had a habit of doing that."

"Very well. Shall we leave you then, my dear?"

Alysa smiled. "Yes, that would be nice, thank you." She walked past him to the tree, and proceeded climbing it. Thanks to over fifteen years of experience, within seconds she reached the level where the hammock Nature provided hung. Sitting comfortably on the branches, she called down, "By the way, _Your Majesty_, I've told you my name. It's Alysa. Please use it at least once before calling me another pet name. Good night!" And she lay back, disappearing from their sight.

Back on the ground, Jareth turned to Hoggle, fuming. "You see how she acts? I've a mind to not let her sleep after all!"

"Why don't you?" Hoggle asked.

"Because," a voice called from above, "that would be very bad form! Now shut up and let me rest!"

* * *

><p><em>AN: Because I'm a butt, and wanna just leave it there :P Finished with 3,205 words. Yes, me saying the words on each chapter shall always be a thing. Why? It keeps me on my toes and lets me know if I need to pick up the pace a bit, or if it's okay for me to be lazy._

_And I just wanna thank you guys for faving and reviewing, artseblis, BloodyGrim, Bloodrose Girl, ram, and especially Smiles1998 for reviewing every new chapter. It really makes me happy to know that this is actually being read._


	6. The Right Questions, the Right Choices

The moment she shut her eyes, Alysa fell fast asleep. For a while, she was falling in darkness, with a warm wind blowing around her, but beyond that was silence. Then she saw a light far off. Something told her to follow it. Well, who was she to argue? She found herself running in midair toward it. Upon reaching it, she saw that she had arrived in Miss Sarah's room.

Miss Sarah was reading a book, tattered and worn from years of use. She was seated in her rocking chair, facing the vanity.

"Miss Sarah?" Alysa called out. The elder woman gave no reply, or any indication that she heard her. Alysa was not surprised; she had not really thought it would work.

"Sarah."

Now she looked up. On her bed, in the mirror, was a certain cranky dwarf.

"Oh, Hoggle," she said, placing the book down. "I'm so glad you came back. I'm sorry I had to make you leave so soon last time."

"Ah, don't worry about it," Hoggle waved off the apology. "How are you? Did you hear anything last night?"

"Last night?" Sarah asked. "No, no, I didn't. Why?"

"Oh, no reason."

"Hoggle," Sarah said sternly. "You're a terrible liar. Now tell me, did something happen last night that I should know?"

"That you should know? Probably not."

"_Hoggle._"

"It's your friend Alysa!" Hoggle blurted out. "She got wished away."

"What?" Sarah cried. "Oh, no! What will happen to her? Who did it? Oh, dear, this is horrible!"

"Sarah, calm down!" Hoggle said. "She's fine!"

"Fine? How can she be fine?"

"Well, she's not a goblin, and she's giving Jareth quite a time. She told me to tell you that she's kicking butt."

"Kicking butt?"

"Yes."

Sarah paused a moment. "She's safe, then? The Goblin King isn't being too hard on her?"

"No, she's got him doing things the way _she _wants. Do you know that they've got a bet going on?"

"A bet?" she repeated. "What on-? How- How can she be so calm? And why is he so lenient?"

"Calm?" Alysa scoffed. "You think I'm calm throughout all this? I'm terrified! Talking that way to the Goblin King? I'm surprised I'm not dead right now! I'm just a great actress."

Alysa noticed that as she spoke, the room was fading into shadow, and Miss Sarah's voice was getting softer. Soon, she found herself in a black void once again. She breathed deeply, waiting patiently for the change in scenery she was sure would come.

And after a while, a room materialized around her. Alysa immediately recognized it as her own bedroom.

"Oh no," she whimpered. She did not want to see this. This would definitely make her homesick.

"No, Mom, no luck yet," a voice came from outside the room. Alysa sighed softly, and walked out. Her baby brother of eighteen years, Ermanno, was talking on the phone while sitting in front of the muted television in their front room.

If he stood up, he would be towering over his older sister by a good five inches, thanks to his long bowed legs. His face was as smooth as the day he came into the world, much to his chagrin, but he made up for it by growing his dark brown hair out so the layered tips barely brushed his shoulders. His lids were closed, but when opened, they showcased a pair of light blue eyes which always seemed to know what you were thinking. Alysa often said that for her to ever want to date someone, the candidate had better look better than Manny, or she would not even consider.

"Don't you worry, I'll find- Yes, Mom, I know. No, Ma- Mom. _Mom. Mother._" Alysa giggled at the impatient face he was making. Their mother had a habit of talking over her children. "No, Mom, don't bring Dad into this. I can manage just fine. I have been for nearly two years, right?"

Alysa frowned. What were they talking about? Two years ago… That was when they first moved out. Managed what for that long, exactly? He was talking about finding her, right?

"Mom. Just… Mom, let me talk to Dad, please?" Manny waited a few seconds, before he said, "Hey, Dad, could you do me favor? _Please,_ don't let Mom near the phone till I can find a roommate?"

Alysa's eyes widened. A roommate? What about her? Was he just going to replace her? Just like that?

"No, Dad, it's just that I haven't had any problems managing the rent myself, so I haven't really been in a hurry to find one. It kinda doesn't feel right."

"Well of course, it doesn't!" Alysa yelled at him, eyes filling up. "After all, _I'm_ the one who picked this place out! How can you just forget me, Manny? Did Mom and Dad, too? Jareth, _did you do this?_" she screamed, tears pouring down her face.

The room was fading away to black again. But this time, Alysa had the feeling of floating down, as if gravity was weakened. She brought her legs up and sobbed piteously in her hands. Family meant everything to her, and seeing how hers were forced to forget her existence killed her.

She felt her knees hit something, and looking up she found herself on a stone island. There seemed to be a light source, like a spotlight directly above her, but she could see none, nor could she see beyond the black abyss surrounding the white stone arches around her. She stood up and turned around. Jareth was behind her, standing in the shadow of an arch.

"Do you do that?" she whispered. The Goblin King slowly walked toward her, the light reflecting off all the white in his outfit blindingly. "Did you make my family forget me?"

Jareth said nothing. He only looked at her silently. Alysa looked at him suspiciously. This seemed familiar…

The Goblin King stepped toward her again, and Alysa found herself rooted to the spot. He did not say anything; he just stared at her, sizing her up. He looked so… aged.

"Say something," she whispered.

Jareth raised his right hand to her face. She closed her eyes and flinched back a bit, not knowing what to expect. But he simply brushed a tear track off her cheek, before pushing her hair behind her ear.

"I'm exhausted."

Alysa opened her eyes.

"I've exhausted myself living up to all their expectations. Isn't that generous?"

Alysa was wary. She had convinced herself that this was another dream, but this was the first time he actually interacted with her. All their expectations? Whose? And if he's exhausted, well in that case...

"Then why do it?" she whispered back. "Why not just stop?"

Jareth smirked, but it seemed half-hearted. "You clearly don't see how this works. But, I suppose you will."

Suddenly, she found herself being pulled away from him. She looked down; there was water up to her waist! How did that happen? She struggled against the current, reached for him as he stared at her, but all efforts were futile. The water swept her off the floating land mass and into the dark abyss. It felt so cold.

Wait.

She _felt_ cold.

And wet.

Alysa woke with a start. She found herself sitting in a little rectangle pond, the water going up to her waist.

"What the-? I thought we agreed we'd start _when I woke!_" she yelled furiously in the air. She was not sure if Jareth could actually hear her, but it felt good to yell out; and if he did end up hearing, well then, bonus points.

"Aah," she groaned as she scooted out of the water. "Good thing I'm not wearing jeans. That would've sucked." Still, the cotton fabric stuck to her legs, and the water made it very heavy, feeling like they would slip off at any moment. "Never mind, this still sucks."

She looked around. No one was near; she was in a large clearing with a wall to her left. Looking down the way, she whispered, "It never ends!" She turned her head, and saw the same was true for this side as well. "It never ends that way, too!" she quoted with a grin. "Okay, no one is around, so… oh, this is gonna feel so weird." She undid the tie at her waist, and proceeded to peel the soggy apparel off her legs. Soon, she was kneeling in the dirt with her bare legs, wringing out her pants back into the pond.

"Please don't come now, please don't come now, please don't come now," she prayed fervently. Once her pants were free of excess water, she hurriedly put them back on. They were still somewhat damp and clammy, and irritated her skin to no end, but at least she was no longer dripping. "Man, I'm gonna get hives now," Alysa complained as she wrung out the sides of her tank. That, she absolutely refused to remove. Running around in a tank, fine, but in just her bra? Forget it.

"Wait a sec," she muttered, looking around confusingly. Something was missing. "Holy crap! Where's my shirt?" Leaning toward the pool, she desperately searched for her shirt and shoes, to no avail. "Are you kidding me right now?! Did you just leave it in the tree?!" In a huff, she sat back on her heels. Then a thought occurred to her. She probably just wasted three minutes sitting here, which means in two minutes, Jareth could just pop in and catch her. No way. There was just no way she was going to lose this bet.

She scrambled back to her feet and raced to the stone wall. "Okay," she breathed. "Well, I'm going to assume that he's expecting me to in there, but I'm also going to assume that there's probably a lot more cover in there than out here. So, first thing to do, find a way in. How did Miss Sarah do it…? Ask the right questions," she remembered. She closed her eyes, and silently started to quickly recite Miss Sarah's story.

"_I asked him if he knew where the door to the Labyrinth was. 'Maybe,' he answered, evasively. I was excited, and I thought that maybe this would be much easier than I had hoped._

"'_Where is it?' I asked._

"'_Where's what?'_

"'_The door.'_

"'_What door?'_

"_And let me tell you, dear, I was ready to kick him to the moon then! I felt it was hopeless asking him anything! And when I told him so, he just riddled, 'Not if you ask the right questions!' So I asked him, 'How do I get into the Labyrinth?'_

"_And those were the magic words! Hoggle turned around and pointed out the doors that appeared out of nowhere."_

"How do I get into the Labyrinth?" Alysa asked aloud. And when she opened her eyes, two large, vine-covered wooden doors were front of her, swinging open noisily. "Alright," she celebrated. "Thank you, Miss Sarah!"

She walked into the doorway, and was greeted by a lichen plant, with eyes attached to the ends.

"Okay, so, Miss Sarah went to the right, so is that what I should do? I suppose I'll be more aware of what's coming up… Gah! I've got no time for this! He might pop up at any moment!" Making a split-second decision, she turned right and ran as fast as her bare feet would allow. As she ran, she fiddled with her MyPhone, which was thankfully water-proof.

"Play running track," she commanded her gadget. Instantly, she smiled at hearing the familiar notes and chords. "Of course this is first," she laughed. She soon found herself singing along.

"_Rising up, back in the street, took my time, took my chances!_

_Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet, just a man and his will to survive!"_

What could she say? She really liked classics from the 1970s all the way to 2020s. They all sounded better than the garbage everyone listened to today.

"_It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight. Risin' up to the challenge of our rivals! And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night, and he's watching us all with the Eye!… of the Tiger!"_

"'Allo!" a voice called out.

Alysa screeched to a stop, and hurriedly turned off her music as she frantically searched for the origin of the voice. Jareth could appear at any minute, but he would not go so far as to change his voice and greet her, would he? Yeah, he totally would.

But the caller was definitely too small to be the Goblin King in disguise. It was a little worm, sitting on a protruding rock on the wall. He was blue, with crazy hair sticking out from all sides, and he wore a little red scarf.

"Hello?" Alysa replied cautiously. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm just a worm," he modestly answered, in a Cockney accent. "Won't you come inside, and meet the missus?" He nodded toward a tiny hole.

Alysa thought fast. Jareth would be here at any moment, but would he expect her to veer off Miss Sarah's story? Maybe, she could hide in there for a while. Except for one thing…

"I'd love to, sir, but I don't think I'd be able to fit through your doorway. Otherwise, I'd be honored. But I've got to hide, before the Goblin King finds me."

"Oh, is he looking for you? Oh, that's never good, dear," the little worm shook his head fearfully. "Then you'd best come inside, you can hide in here for a bit."

"But, I can't fit through your door," Alysa repeated.

"Oh, well, then I can fix that!" he said brightly. "Come closer, closer!"

Alysa scooted a bit closer to the worm, leaning on the wall with her hands. The worm inched his way to her hand, and bit hard on her index finger!

"Ow!" she cried, snatching her hand back and sucking on her wound. "Why the fudge would you… you… you got bigger." She stared at the blue worm, who blinked back at her with his large red eyes sparkling in fun. Somehow, he ended up reaching her chin.

"No, I din't," he corrected her. "You got smaller."

Alysa spun around, and saw the giant lichen staring at her. "Of course I did," she said weakly. "Well, then, I suppose that'll work, huh?"

"Terribly sorry for the bite, love, but if you come inside, the missus can you right up. And we can have a cuppa while you're hiding."

"Well, thank you, sir," Alysa said, still breathily.

"Oh, call me Tim, dear, no need for formalities. And the missus hates them, so you'd best call her Karen." The worm, Tim, scooted into the little hole, Alysa following.

"Um, Tim? Are you sure that the King won't find me in here?"

"Now, don't you worry," he called back. "He doesn't pop into our place. Quite frankly, I don't think he even knows about us. Like I said before, we're just worms," he added cheerfully.

"I hope you're right," she whispered.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Alright, so, here's your Christmas gift! :D A new chappie with 2534 words! And I wanted to say, the names of the worms, I'm sure other people have done those names before, but I'm not stealing or anything! The worm's voice was done by Timothy Bateson, and the puppet was controlled by Karen Prell. So, there's my inspiration! (:_

_Just a warning, it might be a while before I can update. There's a slight possibility that I'll be travelling to Europe..._


	7. Reminiscing

When Alysa bade him farewell, Jareth popped back into his throne room, which had returned to its usual noisy routine. All the goblins around were laughing at each other, squabbling about trivial things, and running around like mindless creatures. The Goblin King, however, was silent as he surveyed all from his throne.

His thoughts turned to Sarah, not for the first time in the past seventy years, or even the hundredth. He was certain that Haggle had gone to give her the girl's message. Her message about 'kicking butt.' How impudent. She was certainly quite unlike Sarah. Sarah was rather juvenile when he first saw her. Then again, she was merely sixteen of her world's years. This new child was at least five years older. Sarah was too old for a goblin's fate, but too young to be kept, damn her innocent eyes. And when Sarah completed his Labyrinth, but refused his offer, it nearly killed him.

He had not seen her again, until the Gammel hag Wished her away. He had lost track of the time as he pined for his lost chance, and seeing who his target was, he was nothing short of shocked. Mortals age so quickly. And when she saw him, she was so calm.

"_Hello, Your Majesty. Long time no see." The elderly woman, all dressed in white stood easily from her rocking chair, to give the royal the respect he deserved. She stood at five and a half feet, her face was wrinkled, and her thin, shoulder length hair was mostly silver streaked with light gray. Her green eyes were as calm as a sea, and looked upon him with just a tinge of sadness and regret._

"_Sarah?" he whispered._

"_Oh, so you do recognize me," she laughed, a frail sound. "I honestly don't know how to feel about that."_

"_What the hell? You were telling the truth?" a voice shrieked from behind._

_Jareth turned, and saw a young woman, maybe twice the age Sarah was when he first saw her. Tall and slender, she stood stiffly as she stared at the newcomer in shock. She wore a light grey shirt and pants, and a tiny hat on her graying blonde hair. Her brown eyes were wide behind her glasses._

"_Ah, so you are the one who Wished Away this woman?"_

"'_This woman?'" Sarah muttered._

"_I was, I, it was just a story," the woman gasped._

"_What said is said," Jareth warned dangerously. How dare this bitch even think about Wishing Sarah Away, to remove her from this earth, to be relieved of her presence! She did not even deserve to breathe the same air as her!_

"_Do you say that at every Summoning?" Sarah asked._

"_Miss Walker, do you not realize there's a magical entity in your room?!" the woman shrieked._

"_Yes, Claudia, I do," the elder calmly replied. "Your Majesty, what will you do?"_

_Jareth was at his wit's end. Sarah was older; too old. Time had aged her greatly. She would not be able to survive the magic of his world. There was a reason for the age limit. If he took her, he did not think her heart would be able to take it. He had to leave her._

_But this Wisher… he had to do something about her. There was no reason for her to Run, and he could not leave her loose in this world, screaming like a lunatic about him and Sarah's relationship with his world._

"_Tell me, Claudia, what do you want most? What are your dreams and desires?" he asked, his voice smooth and consoling. He conjured a crystal sphere and began to roll in about his hands._

_The woman, Claudia, stared back at him in fear. "Right now, there is nothing I want more than to forget this ever happened. You're not real, and that's how it should be!"_

_Jareth smiled. Somehow, he knew she would be unaccepting, and would deny him any chance she got. This, this was just perfect._

"_Then it shall be," he whispered. He held the sphere close to her face, as it spun in his fingertips. Her eyes were transfixed on the orb, and they soon rolled back in her head before she collapsed on the floor. Jareth looked down on her in contempt before turning back to his precious Sarah._

"_Hello, Precious," he said._

_Sarah smiled back at him sadly. "Hello, Goblin King."_

"_How long has it been?" he asked._

"_Sixty-two years. Have you been moping that long?"_

_Jareth bristled. "I do not mope, child!"_

_Sarah laughed. "Child? It's been quite a while since I've been called that." She nodded toward the fallen body. "Will Gammel be alright?"_

_The Goblin King waved away her concerns. "She'll be fine. I can only hope that I succeeded in removing every thread of this memory."_

"_You're not sure?" Sarah asked in surprise._

_Jareth rounded on her with narrowed eyes. "Despite what you may think, precious, I, too, am battling with Time. My powers weaken with age like any other being. You were my chance! My chance for strength again!" He strode up to her, and touched her wrinkled face tenderly. "Why did you deny me, love?"_

Jareth snapped his eyes back open. Yes, even he would eventually lose the race against Time. And his waning powers were proof of that. True, he still had quite a while to go; a few millennia, at least. But that would mean nothing. Why did Sarah not see that all he wanted was a chance for an heir? Toby would have been perfect, he had grown quite fond of the boy during his brief stay at the Castle. But Sarah had won him back.

And then denied him.

He would have moved the stars for her.

His thoughts then turned to his newest subject. Or, at least, she would be his subject if she were not so stubborn. Why was she so unpredictable? Why would she refuse to be loyal to him? Instead, she proposed a game. He conjured up a sphere to check on her. She was still asleep in tree, her face peaceful and quiet.

He had already taken care of her existence in her world; no one, save Sarah, would remember her. Nobody's lives were drastically changed; all the events would remain the same. He briefly wondered how she would react if she ever learned what he did. How close was she to her family?

He looked back at her. She had quite the attitude toward him. Not once had she called him by his name. Sarah was the same. But while the first girl had spoken to him with a tone of reverence and respect, this one seemed to mock him at times. He thought back to her last words to him.

"_By the way, _Your Majesty, _I've told you my name. It's Alysa. Please use it at least once before calling me another pet name."_

"Alysa," he muttered, trying the name out. The girl in the sphere stirred. He stared in surprise. Coincidence? Or is it possible…? No. No, it was not possible that she heard him.

"You've been asleep for far too long, dear," he muttered. "Let's cut your nap a little short. I do believe I've said that the Labyrinth has many surprises."

He blew on the orb, and Alysa vanished from the tree, leaving her makeshift knapsack where she left it. Where would the fun be if he made it too easy? The scene changed to the entrance to his Labyrinth. She soon woke up in the pool. He briefly wondered when was the last time he had that pond cleaned. He chuckled softly at her screams of fury. She tended to do that a lot, as well as talking to herself. He wondered if she even realized she voiced her thoughts aloud.

"Oh, this is gonna feel so weird," he heard her say. Then he realized with a start that she was removing her pants! He debated briefly before finally peeling his eyes away from the crystal. Perhaps he should let her know that he can observe those within his kingdom.

He glanced at the clock. He had another four minutes before he can start his chase. What would happen when he finally caught up with her? How will she try to evade him?

Jareth grinned. "This shall be fun."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Okay, I felt bad that the last one was rather short, so I quickly made this short one as well, with 1,397 words. That rather even things up don't you think? Plus, now I don't feel I've abandoned Jareth so much. I mean, we didn't even see his point of view at all last chapter. Bad Ane! Bad!_

_I wanna thank you all again for viewing and faving/following. It truly does mean a lot to me, and inspires me to keep continuing this. (:_


	8. Revalation

When Alysa entered the threshold of the tiny cave inside the wall, Tim called out, "Luv, I've brought a guest! Is the kettle done yet?"

"A guest?" a high voice, also accented, answered from a different room. "Oh, Tim, why didn't you warn me? Oh, I must look a right mess!"

"Don't be silly, you always look beautiful. Come out, come out!" Tim laughed.

Shortly after, a neon green worm had crawled into sight. She also had a fluffy head of hair, the majority of it pulled back in a messy ponytail.

"'Allo, luv," she greeted the tiny human. "It's wonderful to meet someone new! It's been quite a few centuries since we've 'ad guests. I'm Karen, and that what you shall call me. Not ma'am, mum, or madam or any such tosh as that. And you are?"

Alysa blinked at the friendly host, at a loss for words after the greeting. "Um, Alysa," she finally managed to say. "I'm, I'm Alysa. It's nice to meet you, too." She looked down at her bare feet. "Oh, no. I'm really sorry, I'm probably tracking dirt all over."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Karen smiled. "In case you 'adn't noticed, luv, we don't exactly wear shoes ourselves."

"Oh. Right." Alysa smiled sheepishly.

"Come inside the kitchen. The kettle's just finished boiling." Karen led the way down a hall, stopping to give her husband a quick peck on the lips.

"Alysa 'ere," Tim began, "is on the run, dearie."

"You're doing a Run?" Karen asked her guest.

"No, not _a_ Run, luv," corrected her husband. "She's hiding from His Majesty."

"Oh, my," Karen commented. "Did you tick 'im off somehow, then?"

"Probably," Alysa admitted. "It's a bet. I'm actually Wished Away, and I wouldn't swear fealty to him, and that somehow got me saying that I could survive in the Labyrinth without him, and I've got three days to prove it."

"Oh, ho ho!" Tim laughed, accepting a cup from Karen. "I can see why you'd want to avoid 'im, there."

"Oh, but wait, there's more," Alysa grinned, also accepting a cup of steaming tea. "We ended up meeting up again, and I guess I made him just a _little bit_ upset, cuz next thing I know, he's setting up _another_ bet! Basically, I have to avoid him for twenty-five minutes, or I lose the first bet."

Karen laughed a bit. "That's our king," she said, shaking her head. "He really insists on getting 'is own way. Well, then how about you stay 'ere for the three days?"

Alysa choked on her tea. "What? I couldn't ask you to do that!" she cried.

"Oh, it'd be nothing!" Tim said. "We don't get guests often, and I don't think he'd think of looking for you 'ere."

Alysa thought for a moment. "That's really sweet of you to offer. But I think that's kinda cheating. I think for the twenty-five minutes would be okay. But I should try to survive the Labyrinth for the rest of the bet."

Tim and Karen shared a look. Finally Karen sighed. "If you really think you must, dear, we can't stop you. But don't forget us."

Tim nodded. "Yes, and should you need us, for help or just for a chat, don't hesitate to just call on us."

Alysa smiled warmly. "Thank you, Tim, Karen. That's really kind of you."

WWW

Jareth waited impatiently. She was no where to be seen. If she had followed Sarah's tale, then she should have been here by now. He only had ten minutes left to find her. Reluctantly, he conjured an orb, and peered into it.

His brows flew high into his fly-away hair. She was in an unrecognizable place. Sipping tea. Well, she was certainly confident that he would not be able to find her. He panned out his view a bit, and saw that she was conversing with two worms. Two giant worms. No, she was shrunken.

Well, that should make capturing her easier.

He frowned. Where did they live? He knew of all inside his kingdom, but their residences were their own private matters.

Well, that just made things rather hard.

WWW

"Thank you for the tea, Karen," Alysa said as she stood at the entrance. "And Tim, thanks for convincing me to come in."

"Don't mention it, luv," Tim smiled. "And remember, anytime."

"Thanks," Alysa repeated. "And I just go straight through that wall, right?"

"Yes, dear," Karen confirmed. "Left will take you to the castle, and right will take you further into the labyrinth."

Alysa paused. "Um, how do I get big again? I don't think I'd be able to cover much ground being only three inches high."

"Oh, that's what the tea was for, dearie," Karen answered. "You just wait maybe two more minutes and the thirty minute tea will take care of you."

"Great, sooo… do I just sit and wait or, can I get down in any way?"

"Why, dear," Karen said with a smile, "what do you think the lichen are for?"

Alysa peered down over the edge. "What, I just jump on them?"

"That's the way, dear," Tim answered. "Don't worry about 'urtin' 'em, they don't mind."

"You sure?" Alysa asked. The thought of possibly hurting one of the strange plants seemed a little wrong.

"Don't worry about it," Karen echoed her husband. "Per'aps you just need a little nudge."

The next thing Alysa knew, a fuzzy green head shoved her from behind, and sent her flying down the wall. "Oomph!" she cried as she landed on her rear in the middle of the plant. "Thanks for the warning, Karen!"

"Oh, anytime, luv! Come visit soon!" And the green and blue heads disappeared from sight.

Alysa laughed sheepishly as the lichen looked at her with curiosity, as if wondering how such a tiny human happened to land on them.

"I lichen me some fung-eye?" she giggled softly. The plant just seemed to roll their eyes, as if to say, '_Like we haven't heard that before.'_ "Well, bye, then." And she walked off the center of one plant to land on another.

The moment her feet touched the ground, she found herself large again. "Wow, how convenient," she remarked.

"Indeed," said a voice behind her.

Alysa spun around. And guess who was there? "Dude, stop sneaking up behind me!" She quickly glanced at her watch. "And I win the second bet. Time's up, so we continue our first wager."

"Yes, yes, I remember the terms I had set," Jareth said, sounding rather upset.

"Aw, we're not being sore losers, are we?" Alysa said, mock pouting.

Jareth narrowed his eyes. "Don't tempt me to take you somewhere else, child."

Alysa narrowed her own eyes. "Didn't I ask you to call me by my _name_? It's Alysa. Not that hard; three syllables. Say it with me." She started dragging out each syllable slowly, "Aaa. Lyyy. Saaa. _Alysa!_"

"Your name is well-known, _Alysa,_ but is it really necessary for me to repeat it?"

Alysa shook her head in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? What kind of king doesn't know the names of his own subjects?"

Jareth smiled. "Is that a surrender then? Are you one of my subjects?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, nice try. But you did the same thing with Hoggle. You seem to constantly get his name wrong!"

"I know the dwarf's name, _Alysa,_ but to seem to get it wrong provides me with much more interesting results."

"Are you going to constantly emphasize my name, now?" Alysa asked.

"Do you want me to use it?" Jareth retorted.

Alysa scowled at him, then proceeded to walk straight to the wall. She almost hesitated at how solid it looked, and briefly thought that she's gonna look pretty dumb if she ended up hitting the wall. Thankfully, though, she walked right through the gap, and turned to the right. Might as well stay as far away from the castle as possible.

"I don't think I gave you permission to leave me," Jareth called after her, catching up in long strides.

"Not a subject!" Alysa threw back. "Ugh, you're so exhausting. Oh, hey, that reminds me." She spun around, and waited for Jareth to reach her. "I've got something to say to you. Actually, _a lot_ to say to you!"

"Yes, apparently, you always do."

"One," Alysa held up a finger, "where the fudge is my shirt?"

"I'd assume it's right where you left it," he replied.

"Where _I_ left it? Nuh-uh, _I_ didn't leave the place, so _I_ didn't leave my shirt and shoes; _you_ did, and I'd like them back!"

"Of course, I can do that," Jareth began, but Alysa interrupted.

"Wait, wait, wait! Never mind, I'll find them myself." She held up two fingers. "Two." She paused, and a look of hurt crossed her face. "Did you make my family forget me?"

"Yes."

Alysa was surprised; she was expecting a different answer, or a long explanation. "Why?"

Jareth looked at her sharply. "Do you really think that it would be best for your loved ones to continue looking for you, when they've no chance of finding you?"

She deflated a bit. "No chance at all?" she asked softly. Tears started to well up in her eyes.

"None," came the clipped answer.

Alysa shook her head, dispersing the tears, and glared at the Goblin King. "Even though Claudia remembered bits and pieces of that night?"

"I made absolutely sure that this time, no memories would resurface," Jareth said cooly. "Sarah's the only person who would know of your existence."

"You've erased my existence from everyone I've ever known?" Alysa scoffed. "That must've been _so_ tiring."

"_Exhausting,_" he replied, scathingly.

"Which brings me up to number three," Alysa held up two fingers and a thumb. "You seemed to have plenty of strength to pop yourself into my dreams. And since that neither helps nor hinders, I'd like you to stay out of my head!"

Jareth stared at her with slightly widened eyes. "What?"

"You, in my dreams, for about three weeks now." She brushed her hair back over her shoulder. "It's getting rather annoying, and feels like an invasion of privacy. Although this last one was the first time that you've actually spoken-"

"I've never stepped foot inside your dreams," Jareth interrupted.

Alysa blinked. "What?"

"Why would I place myself in your head? Especially when I was unaware of your existence until this morning," Jareth pointed out.

"What?" she repeated. "But, you… the past three… I drew a picture, Miss Sarah said it was my most accurate," she mumbled. "She never wanted to describe you. I was just imagining it…"

"The portrait of me, that was from your dreams?"

Alysa nodded slowly. "Why were you in my dreams, if you didn't know me then?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," Jareth replied cooly. That was his question to her. Why would she dream about him? And in such accurate detail? And for that matter… "How did you know about your family?" he suddenly asked.

Alysa looked up from her musings. "Um, that was also in my dream. I heard my brother talk to my parents about roommates. And before that, I saw Hoggle give Miss Sarah my message. I was right, by the way. She did freak out."

Jareth was not listening. He could not help but notice that she seemed to dream in the same sequence he had thought about back in the throne room. Was this yet another coincidence?

"What did you dream about after your family?" he asked.

Alysa flushed red. "None of your business," she mumbled, before stalking away.

Jareth raised an eyebrow after her. What in the Underground could have made her turn such a lovely shade? Probably about him, since she had asked him to stay out. He smirked, wondering what was it that she imagined him doing.

Alysa glanced behind her. He did not seem to be following her. Good. Why did he have to bring that up? And why was she embarrassed about it all? Nothing happened, he only talked to her. She brought her hands to her face in a vain attempt to cool it down.

'_He only talked. That's it, we just talked,' _she tried to convince herself. '_The entire aura felt somewhat intimate, and he did touch my hair… But we just talked!'_

She glanced behind her again.

"What the?"

A wall was blocking her way. She turned to the front again, and saw a maze of stone walls stretched out in front of her.

"Ohh," she said, remembering this part. "The ever-changing walls… Okay. Best thing to do, would be… ah, who cares?" she said, throwing her hands in the air. "Just keep moving, so Jareth doesn't think I'm cheating, and we'll see where I end up."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Yeah, sounds like a good plan, Alysa. Let's see how far you get. Well, this one's finished. With 2,133 words. Now question... What the frig is Jareth doing in her head?!_

_I guess we'll have to find out later. Thank you all for the reviews and follows, you guys! I can **never** be thankful enough for that._


	9. The End of the Beginning

Alysa stared at her watch. Assuming that time worked the same way here as it did back home, then she still had maybe sixty-eight hours left to the end of the bet. She sighed. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought. If anything, she might give up out of boredom.

Alysa shook herself. "What are you thinking?!" she scolded. "We can't let that pompous big-head think he's got the best of you!"

She took in her surroundings, and in stroke of what she thought as brilliance, she pressed the command button on her MyPhone before saying, "Play fantasy playlist."

The first words started to play before the guitar, so she never even had a chance to join in at the beginning.

"_As we were out a-huntin'_

_One morning in the Spring_

_Both hounds and horses running well_

_Made the hills and the valleys ring._

_But to our great misfortune,_

_No fox there could be found._

_The huntsmen cursed and swore but still_

_No fox moved over the ground._

_And up spoke our master huntsman,_

_The master of the chase,_

'_If only the Devil himself come by,_

_We'd run him such a race!'"_

With a huge grin, Alysa started to wander through the maze. At first, she allowed Heather Dale to fill the air, before joining in the chorus, accompanying the lyrics with some on-the-spot walking choreography.

"'_Ride on, my gallant huntsmen!_

_When must I come again,_

_For you should never want for a fox_

_To chase all over the glen._

_And when your need is greatest_

_Just call upon my name,_

_And I will come, and you shall have_

_The best of sport and game!'"_

She had no idea where she was going, but honestly, she did not even care. Music filled the air, Alysa joining in gleefully when there were lyrics, and childishly dancing out emotions in the orchestral pieces. She had gone through most of her Heather Dale songs, all of the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack, some Celtic Woman, that one theme from BBC's Chronicles of Narnia, and was halfway through the first soundtrack of Lord of the Rings when she realized she was dead tired.

"How freakin' long have I been walking?" she wondered out loud as she sat down, leaning on another dead end wall, and massaging her calves. She glanced at her watch as she turned off the music. "Three hours?" she groaned.

It was not like she was not used to walking; that was, after all, how she got around back home. "But," she admitted to herself, "if I felt lazy, there was always the subway. Not an option here, I guess." She looked up at the sky. The sun had finally seemed to move downward, and the air was cooling quickly.

"Great," muttered Alysa, standing up. "So that plan of going with the flow totally backfired. How do I get out of the cold?"

"Well," called out a voice from behind her, "you could always go through one of us."

Alysa quickly turned around to see the dead end gone, and four heads peeping behind two shields; one blue, one red.

"Wasn't this a dead end, like, two seconds ago?" she asked them.

"No, that's the dead end behind you," laughed one of the heads.

Alysa stepped back, keeping her eyes on the beings in front of her, but was prevented from going farther than a foot by a wall.

"Well, okay then," she smiled. "I guess this means I'm on the right track! I should've given up forever ago."

"Oh-ho!" another head crowed. "The missy thinks she's bested the Labyrinth already!"

"She got the whole thing figured out," chortled the fourth.

She studied the obstacle in front of her. "Okay, let's see if I remember how this works." She pointed to the the top two heads. "One door leads towards the castle, and the other to certain doom. I can only ask one of you two a question, and one of you would lie to me. And the door towards the castle is behind the liar."

She grinned at the wide eyes of disbelief on the four creatures. They ducked behind their shields to quickly and quietly discuss and debate the truth of her statement.

When they popped back out, she looked at the blue shield's bearer and innocently asked, "Was I wrong?"

He quickly looked around at his companions before answering, "Yes."

Alysa's smile broadened. "Thank you, sirs, I'd like to go through this door then," she said, pointing to the door behind the blue shield bearers.

"Why would you go through there?" the top blue shield bearer asked. "I might be telling you the truth."

"You could very well be wrong," the head below him said, the other two muttering their agreement.

"Except I know for a fact that every word I said was true," Alysa told them, "so therefore, if you told me I was wrong, then I know that you're lying, and so then the door behind you is the one Miss Sarah went through before."

"Miss Sarah?" piped up the bottom red bearer. "Who was that?"

"You don't know?" Alysa asked, surprised.

"Well, we can't remember every person who comes through, now can we?" said the top blue bearer, sounding rather defensive.

"Right…" she said. "Well, anyhoo, I'm going through here. Should be okay."

"But what if things have changed since last you heard?" the bottom blue guy asked.

Alysa paused. She turned to the top red bearer, asking, "Is Jareth really the kind of guy who'd change the rules like that?"

"Yes," he replied seriously.

Alysa smiled again. "Thank you for telling me the truth. He totally _would_ do that, wouldn't he?" She turned the knob of the blue door and pushed it open.

"Okay, wait," she muttered. "Somewhere along here is a trapdoor… leading to the oubliette." She paused for a moment. "Do I want to go through that? Miss Sarah got out thanks to Hoggle… Ah, screw it," she finally said, before purposely walking across the floor.

She did not get far before one of the stones fell away at her feet, causing her to fall down a hole. She gave a scream as she felt the air rushing by. Soon, though, she felt herself slowing down as the walls grabbed at her arms and legs. One, she was certain, was copping a feel.

"Oi!" she cried, searching for the offending appendage. "What are you doing?"

A group of hands contorted themselves into a face. "What do you mean? We're helping, of course."

"Helping should not involve ass-grabbing!" she retorted furiously.

"Who would?" sneered another face, looking similar to a crocodile.

"Come now, come now, which way?"

"Down," Alysa replied firmly.

"Down?" a face cried gleefully.

"She chose down!" sang another.

"Yes, yes," Alysa said, "just get on with it!"

Suddenly, she found herself slipping through laughing fingers, before finally going through a grate into a dark dungeon. Laughter echoed throughout the oubliette long after the grating closed.

"Lights, please," Alysa said into her MyPhone, and the tiny cave was illuminated by the blinding white screen.

"Okay, dank and damp, and still chilly. Damn, not what I was expecting." She rubbed her arms against the newfound chill. "I'm so tired…" she mumbled. Too tired to even care. She leaned against the stone walls, closing her eyes.

WWW

When Alysa awoke, she kept her eyes shut. But she distinctly felt eyes on her.

"Whoever is in here," she called out quietly, and hopefully dangerously, "if you do, or have done, anything to me, you will find yourself lacking eyeballs."

"That might be fun to see," came the lofty reply.

Opening one eye, Alysa saw Jareth leaning on the stone wall. Her MyPhone screen was back to black, but a little ball of fire floated close to the Goblin King's head.

"Do you get a kick outta creepin' on people? Doing that used to get you arrested back home." Alysa sat straighter and stretched her aching arms and legs.

"I prefer mobile subjects," Jareth replied. "And since you seemed most definitely immobile… well, something had to change."

She quickly checked the time. "Ugh. Ten _hours?_" she groaned. "I've still got another fifty-five hours of this?"

"Would you like to stop?" inquired Jareth.

"No. Shut up," Alysa snapped as she stood.

"I'm curious to see how you get out of here," Jareth gestured around. "An oubilette is normally a place to put things to be forgotten."

"That's depressing and sadistic," Alysa commented.

"Isn't it?"

"Miss Sarah got out." She noticed the way his face hardened. "Bribed someone, right? Somewhere around here, there's a door that I can stick to the wall. I open it, and _viola!_ Instant escape."

"But where is the door?" Jareth asked.

Alysa looked around. "Somewhere… on the floor?"

"Where?" Jareth smirked as Alysa frantically searched for her escape route.

"You son of a building block," Alysa turned to him. "Did you actu- did you… get rid of it or something?"

"I don't know what you're referring to… Did," Jareth looked at her with a confused face, "Did you refer to my ancestors as 'building blocks?'"

Alysa flushed. "...So what if I did, you biscuit-eating bulldog?! I mean, what the french toast? You didn't have to go and pull a stunt like that!"

Jareth resumed his usual stare. "Your words confuse me."'

"Good," she snapped. She rubbed her bare arms against the chill. Even with two people and a ball of fire, the dungeon was still cold and damp. And she could feel a cold coming on. Fan-freakin'-tastic. She was always bad when it came to colds.

"Well, Alysa, how do you plan on getting out?" Jareth gestured grandly about the dungeon. "No food, no water, no warmth. If you do not starve or die of thirst, you would surely freeze." He walked over to her, as she leaned back on the wall. She was taller than Sarah was… not by much, but enough so that he didn't have far to bend down. "You brought this on yourself," he said softly. "You specifically asked to go down, and yet you should have known what was down here."

He smirked when she closed her eyes as he brushed her hair out of her face. "You put too much stock into a story. It doesn't always turn out the way you want. I can get you out if you'd like," he whispered leaning close to her.

Okay, the best to do is punch the crap outta this guy, right? He was invading her personal space, and she didn't like it. She should get out of this, right? Except all her self-defense lessons flew out of her head when Jareth's breath tickled her ear. They didn't mention _that_ in SD!

...He kinda smelled like forest and sea at the same time.

'_Okay, Alysa, wake up call!'_

"Aaaallrighty then!" she squeaked, ducking under his arm and running to the middle of the room. "We apparently need to set some boundaries. I'd like to have a bubble around me, providing me with a 'cushion of protection' from you." She began gesturing to the air around her, about a half a foot away from her person. After quick think, she lengthened that to a whole foot.

Jareth smiled. That didn't seem good… "And why would you want that?"

"I just said! My personal space is not for rent. No trespassing!" She made an 'X' with her arms and stepped back as he stepped forwards.

"So," he began, "you would like protection from me."

"Yes." Alysa nodded emphatically. Something was up though…

"Very well. As you wish."

Wait…

"By the way," he grinned maliciously, "I win."

Crap.

* * *

><p><em>AN: And finished with 2001 words. Sorry this took so long, guys; life got in the way, preparing to travel to Spain, and the inspiration well was running a bit dry... I don't know when the next update will be, I don't think I'll be able to write again until after I've arrived in Europe._

_Anyhoo. Wow. Sucks to be Alysa now huh? I guess she got a bit too cocky for her own good, cuz now, she's Jareth's. Muahahahaha! And yet, she'll now be protected from him... How will that work out? Hopefully, you'll find out soon._

_The song at the beginning is an excerpt from Heather Dale's "Black Fox" one of my favorite songs by her, well worth a listen to!_


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